Naruto: Catalyst of the Supernatural
by VigilantSempai
Summary: Despite his intelligence, Naruto has as normal of a life that can be hoped for, for a person with the name 'Maelstorm'. Yet no matter which dimension he is in, Naruto is still, and always will be, the hero. So why the hell is he dealing with devils, succubus, pedophilic snakes, dragons and perverts? Simple he doesn't have a choice. Rated M for lemons and other stuff. NarutoXHarem
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hello everybody, VigilentSempai here to present to you with the first ever installment **Naruto: Catalyst of the Supernatural**. As you know, this is a Naruto-Highschool DxD crossover, that will take place after the Fourth Shinobi War with a twist. The story will not follow canon DxD though it will bear similarities. I say this because I have only gotten to the Excalibur Arch, which is a far as I could get reading online. With that said, know that I do not know the whole storyline and have decided to mix the two universes, something that I find rare in Naruto-DxD crossovers.

This will be a harem story, that will include several girls from both anime. I do plan on writing lemons for this story, so if you don't tell, I won't.

Now! Onto the story!

Naruto was glad that the headphones he had brought today didn't let any noise go anywhere but in his ears or else the whole library would be subjected to his music and he'd have to turn it down and, currently, that wasn't an option for him. The only good way to listen to music was at max volume. In front of him rested his computer, an empty bento next to it, the glare from the sun making him wish he'd chosen his normal spot toward the inner corner of the room but something had compelled him sit next to the window, allowing him a great view of the city in the distance and the courtyard below.

Naruto watched as three people, males, conversed with each other as they peeked in one of the girls teams in their locker room, the kendo team if he remembered correctly. Several moments later Naruto's guess was proven correct as they girls streamed out of the locker room clad in towels or spare articles of clothing to cover their modesty. As he watched, two guys disappeared before the girls caught sight of them leaving their single friend to the feel the collective wrath of the whole girls kendo club.

Normally someone in Naruto's position would have laughed, snorted or even scoffed, but he just watched, unaffected before he caught sight of his reflection in the window. His usually unruly hair was pulled into a ponytail that fell just passed his shoulders. His face was angular with three lines one each cheek that led to him constantly getting asked if he had whiskers whenever someone took the time of day to talk to him. His blue eyes looked back at himself from the window before they hardened, a frown marring his face momentarily before he looked back to the crowd of girls beating the poor boy.

It seemed he had spaced out for a few minutes as they girls were dispersing, a twitching mass of flesh left in their wake. The boy had been beaten so bad that he was indiscernible from a pile of body parts, in fact the only thing that signified that he was alive was the slight twitching of his body, and even then corpses were known to do that…

Naruto's misgivings were unfounded, as miraculously the boy stood up, still bruised and battered but no to the extent that it had been before. As he watched, the boy ran his hand through his brown hair, before heading off toward the school building. Watching him, Naruto's lips twitched up.

Issei Hyoudou was a good person; average looking, with an average height, and spiky brown hair. Like Naruto, he wore a variation of the Kuoh Academy uniform: a vertically black striped, long sleeved white shirt under a black blazer decorated with a white accents, black pants and sneakers. Normally, the student wore a ribbon around their neck, but both Issei and Naruto had forgone it; both of them keeping the top three buttons open. Where that was the end of Issei's uniform variation Naruto went further, rolling up his sleeves of both his blazer and shirt to his elbows.

Hearing the bell ring Naruto was brought out of his thoughts before he lazily stood, stopping his music. He turned off his laptop, before stuffing it and his headphones into his school bag, before slinging the accessory over his shoulder and proceeding toward the door, empty bento in hand. He crossed the library at his own pace, giving a lazy wave and grin to the librarian, the bento finding it's way into the trash as he left.

A couple minutes later, Naruto stood in front of his English class his bag resting on his desk.

"-Honestly, Naruto, are you even listening to me?"

"Hmm?" Naruto said, before turning to his teacher, "Sorry, Tsukiko-sensei, did you say something?" Several people in the class laughed, their teacher flushing a light red. Kohana Tsukiko was a young woman, only about twenty-five with green hair that fell down her back stopping at her waist. She was tall, about the same height as Naruto, who stood a little under six-foot-one, when she wore high-heels. She was today, he noted idly . She had a great figure, that her business suit clearly outlines: a grey vest over a white button up shirt that stopped before her elbows. Her shirt had the top two buttons opened, showing off pale skin that constantly made Issei stare and drool. Her long legs were covered by grey stockings, and a tight pencil skirt that even Naruto had trouble keeping his eyes off of when she turned around.

Her emerald green eyes narrowed dangerously, or Naruto guessed they did as her left eye was covered by a bang of her hair so he only had one to go off of.

"Are you telling me," Tsukiko started in a low, dangerous voice, "That for the last minute in a half that I have been scolding you, you've been ignoring me?" Sensing danger, Naruto fell back onto his pre-planned escape strategies- Default One.

"Sorry," he said, as he rubbed the back of his head giving a sheepish grin, "I got caught up on the road to life."

"You used that when you were late last week."

Naruto gave a sheepish laugh again inwardly cursing himself. _'Shit, wrong situation! Escape Plan One!'_ "Did I?," he asked. "I guess I was too caught up in your beauty to think straight." He saw her eye widen momentarily, before she deadpanned.

"You weren't even looking at me, Naruto."

' _Escape Plan One: Ver. 2!'_ "You're just so radiant, I didn't want to go blind." he barely finished his sentence before a clipboard landed on his nose hard enough to draw a small amount of blood. He stumbled backwards into the table right under the blackboard.

"Quiet, you," Tsukiko said, before turning back to the class. They had been watching with rapt attention, and, as if this was a rare occurrence (it wasn't). They had even started taking bets on whether Naruto was going to get off without a punishment.

"That's 100 yen. I told you, Kyoya."

"No, you said he'd get punished not hit, so I don't owe you crap."

"You still owe me 500. _I_ said he'd be hit, not punished. At least not publicly- their illicit student-teacher relationship allows him to get away with stuff like this."

"Do they did _it_ yet?"

"Nora-chan, I'm sure they _christened_ each and every desk in this classroom."

At that the class exploded in commotion. Several students lurching from their seat as if scalded, some sat stiff and pale, Issei had his head to the desk murmuring to it (asking about boobs no doubt), and, as Naruto watched, one girl in the very back corner, tentatively leaned forward and sniffed the desk.

' _What the fuck? At least have the decency to not do this when we are here.'_

Naruto just stood his eyebrow raised and amused smirk on his face. He turned to his teacher, laying his hand on her shoulder, leaning in close to her ear before whispering loud enough for the whole room to hear.

"Should I tell them what we do when you take me to the staff room?"

The class turned deathly still, no one moving for a second, before all head turned to him with blank faces. Then, suddenly, like a spreading wildfire, one student, a girl, blushed. Then two, then four, then more and more until every single face in the classroom was cherry red, steam coming from their ears. Well except Issei.

He had passed out from bloodloss.

Naruto chuckled to himself. He was the Prank Kings, no Emperor, and he always took an opportunity to have a good laugh whether at or with others. Not that he ever did anything intentionally demeaning. Who knew that one girl had a fetish for leashes?

Who _has_ a fetish for leashes?

Naruto's amusement was short lived, when he felt his teacher stiffen under his hand. Inwardly, Naruto knew what was to come, it was inevitable, predictable even.

Slowly, haltingly, Tsukiko turned to Naruto, her lips pulled into a pleasant smile showing sharp, pointed teeth. Her head was bowed slightly, shadowing her normally visible eye that was was shining with a deep red light, filled with murderous intent.

"Naruto…" her voice sounded like she had swallowed several bags of sweets, practically dripping with sugar so sweet it was lethal. Naruto only had time to gulp and raise his arms slightly before his teacher exploded. " **DON'T! ENCOURAGE! THEM!** " Each word was punctuated by her magic clipboard, which she didn't have before, slamming down on Naruto's head. Normally Naruto was able to withstand her 'tough love' as he liked to tell people that asked, but not this time and Naruto ended up on the floor three bumps, one on top of the other, sprouting from his head, his eyes swirling in their sockets.

Indeed, _'hell hath no fury, like a woman scorned.'_

After a couple of minutes, Tsukiko had calmed the class down enough and convinced the kids to sit into their seats ("No one performed illicit acts at any of your desks! Least of all me!"), revived Issei for a second time (The first he had asked if Naruto had seen her boobs), and made sure Naruto didn't have any lasting damage. Now he sat on the table in the front as Tsukiko addressed your class.

"Now, If you all remember, your first project this year was a research project about anything connected to the Sigmund Freud and to do a five minute minimum presentation on your research."

"Yeah," Issei called from his seat, "and Naruto didn't have to do it." He paused, a heavy blush staining his face so heavy in fact that a trail of blood ran from his nose. "That's right, because he-"

"Asked to combine his presentation for this class' presentation with his biology project," the green haired woman said before Issei could continue. Obviously, if he had continued nothing good would have come of it.

"Really?"

"As expected of the number one student in the grade."

"That doesn't matter, I feel pity for him. All that research…"

Tsukiko smirked. "Yes. He asked me and Etsu-sensei to combine them. We relented and gave him an extension on the project, and today he will be presenting the information to the class today." She glanced at him with a smile. "You are ready, correct?"

He nodded.

"Okay, class make sure you give Naruto the same amount of attention you give me." She stepped behind her desk, sinking into her desk elegantly.

Naruto was actually hopeful they wouldn't. Whenever Tsukiko-sensei gave a lecture, everyone listened, not just because she actually was a great teacher (Which was a surprise as it was her second year of teaching), but because she always sat in the front of the class on the table that Naruto sat on now, her legs crossed elegantly and an arm under her bust drawing both the eyes of both gender. How she did it, both function under the stairs continuously and not show the class her panties, Naruto would never know.

He did know that it was number four on the list of things Issei wants to see before he graduates.

Giving the green haired woman another smile, Naruto stood and faced the class.

"Alright," he said tugging at his collar, "I was originally going to do this with a powerpoint but I decided that I'd go with a lecture, so please bare with me here because I'll be giving a lot of information." Seeing all eyes on him, Naruto continued. "Has anyone wanted to have superpowers?"

The question seemed to catch people off guard, but soon enough several people started nodding or raised their hands.

Naruto grinned. "Ever wonder why we don't have any?" he asked, but didn't wait for a reply. "Its because we don't need, or rather we already do in a sense." He paused, seeing the little amount of reservation the other kids had to listening to a boring lecture vanish, Naruto continued as he started walking around the room. "I'll be informing you all upon stem cells and, what Freud calls, the Id. Now I know many are wondering how the two are connected, and I agree it seems like they aren't related at all, but please be opened minded."

Suddenly Naruto's hand flashed at a girl, snapping under her nose. She let out a small 'Eep!' as she lurched back in her desk.

"Sorry," he murmured to the girl before continuing like nothing happened. "Freud classifies the Id as, simply, our base instincts. Freud's definition relies heavily upon sexual desire and our instincts to avoid pain, or 'displeasure' as he put it. As an example, we could say that Hyoudou-san is a great representation of Freud's Id. His sexual desire has a large impact on his life and decisions, resulting on him peeking on girls and seeking the, ah, _'pleasure of oppai'_."

"Got that right!" Issei called, causing Naruto to sweatdrop. At the least wait until he had finished his explanation.

"At the same time," Naruto continued, "he has repressed his Id as he seems to have a lack of self-preservation instincts as he is constantly beaten for doing the same things." Naruto was satisfied to see the boy deflate a little. Walking until he was back to the girl he had just scared. "Now I say this because, as I said before by by Freud's assumption the Id should control our bass instincts such as our fight or flight response."

Naruto's hand shot out, his fingers snapping under the girl's nose again, but, unlike last time, her head only jerked back a little bit less violently than the first time, and she didn't squeak. Glancing around he was glad to see the slightly surprised faces of his classmates.

"Can anyone tell me why she didn't react the same way that she did the first?"

The students were quiet for a second, contemplating, before a girl in the back raised her hand. "Because she already experienced it," she stated confidently, before turning shy. "Right?"

"Correct." Naruto smiled. "But how does that stopping from squeaking again? If it happened once it should happen again, right?" That seemed to bring the class up short; there heads turning as he started to walk back to the front of the class. "Exactly," he said to the silence. 'There is nothing that _says_ that, that is suppose to happen, so how does it?" He paused for a second waiting for a reply. He didn't get one, but that was okay, he wasn't expect one. "Everyone remember how I said we already have super powers? Well you just saw it." Now standing at the front of the class, Naruto turned to see the confused faces of the class.

"That," he said pointing at the girl has unknowingly participated in his experiment, "that is our superpower as humans. Our adaptability." Seeing realization dawn upon the others, Naruto gave a giant grin. "Now that brings us to the biology part of this. The information I gathered and will tell you is all things that have been confirmed by scientist or with my own eyes with my own experiments.

"Stems cells, much like how the Id is the basis of the subconscious and conscious mind, is the basis for our bodies. They are the very first cells that we make as embryos in the womb that eventually make cells that make everything in our bodies. Blood, skin, organs, muscles, bone, fluides. Everything. They are, you could say the closest thing we will get to a conformation that there is a such thing as base instinct and, by extension, Freud's Id. As they are the only cells in your body that intentionally mutate to make more of what is needed in the body and hold the basis of our being in them, our DNA like red blood cells. So why haven't scientists made a way for us to have superpowers? Well that takes us into the biology of the brain.

"It is said that we only use 10% of our brain, but that untrue…"

"... While I said that we already have superpowers, if my hypothesis is correct human beings may eventually develop them just by evolution without even our own need to search for a way scientifically. Either way that the ability is found, it will develop from a base instinct, subconsciously, and on a cellular level with severe consequences to our mental process as a species." Naruto stopped, having talked for about half-an-hour nonstop, walking the room at least five times in the same span of time. He was currently sitting on the table at the front of the room, his mouth dry and his throat sore from constant speaking.

The silence in the room stretched for a while until it was apparent they were all waiting for Naruto to continue. Seeing nothing else to do, he decided to open up for question. They wouldn't have anything to ask really and he'd be able to finally wrap up the whole thing.

"Uh… any questions?"

Naruto immediately regretted his decision to ask that question as several hands rose into the air like missiles. Slightly taken back by his classmates enthusiasm, and the amount of question he would have to answer.

"Um, Issei."

The brunettes hand slammed down on his desk with a resounding smack, causing many to flinch, and he stood from his desk his chair falling over behind him. "Is it possible to get a power that allows me to be able to communicate with breasts?" Naruto, along with the rest of the class, fell flat on their faces at the absurdity of the question. Seating himself on the table again Naruto finding everyone looking at him expectantly.

' _The hell is everyone looking at me like that for?'_ he asked himself before his eyes widened. _'W-wait! They don't actually want me to answer that question, do that? How the hell do you even come up with a question like that, much less come up with an answer that was more complex than_ yes _or no?'_ Realizing that the silence was stretching and that Issei didn't seem to be breathing, Naruto glanced at his teacher, silently pleading for help. He was sure she was going to shoot Issei for asking such a lewd and obviously unnecessary question. To his surprise she didn't do that, but smiled.

"Well, Naruto?" she asked. "While the question is… different, I too would like to know if such… absurd things were possible for humans."

Staring at her gobsmack, Naruto took a second to realize that he would have to answer, and, judging by everyone's face, they wouldn't be appeased with a simple yes or no. Heaving a large sigh, Naruto rubbed his forehead, a headache already coming up. He looked up as Issei.

"Mythologically speaking, there is no doubt that such a thing is possible… but realistically… it's… more complicated."

"Hmm? Explain please," Tsukiko said.

Glancing around the room again, his eyes stopping on Issei, who looked like Christmas had come early, to the intent faces of his other classmates. He heaved another sigh, deciding to go with the truth.

"Scientifically speaking… the phenomenon is possible b-"

"YES!" Issei shouted cutting off Naruto. He had somehow made it to the top of his desk in the blink of an eye. A holy light was shining down upon him, brighter than the sun that was just starting its descent. A breeze ran through the room, ruffling Issei's hair. "EROGAMI-SAMA," he called, "I WILL NOT FAIL YOU! I SWEAR BY MY ARM, NO MY BODY, NO MY _SOUL_ , I WILL OBTAIN THIS POWER! I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I DO AND HAVE SPOKEN TO EVERY BREAST OF EVERY GIRL IN THIS SCHOOL! YOUR HUMBLE SERVANT THANK YOU FOR SUCH A BOUNTIFUL OPPORTUNITY! I SHALL EXTEND YOUR INFLUENCE! INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF WORSHIPPERS! I'LL-Urk!"

Having had enough, Naruto had walked over and punched the boy in his stomach causing the boy to fall of his desk and hit the floor. Ignoring the downed man, Naruto made his way back to the front of the room. He sat back down and pinned everyone in the class stare.

"Yes. I did say that scientifically it is possible, BUT the _probability_ of such a power being developed is astronomical, or, at best, abysmally small. Several factors need to be met. The ability to telepathically communicate needs to be created, what more it needs to be able to communicate to inanimate objects. If that ever happened it would mean that inanimate objects had a form of communication which would defunct everything the world knows about science in just about all areas of science.

"Either that, or breasts need to develop a conscious mind, a sentience. That itself has a higher possibility of happening, but even then the possibility of that happening in a world where everyone has superpowers, would be like trying to find a single, specific piece of hay in the entire world. By the time you pass there it would have been, it's already gone."

Issei stood up, one hand wrapped around his stomach the other pointing at Naruto. "I swear to you, Naruto, I _will_ develop this power. I will prove to you that it can happen, and then I'll talk to all the boobs I come across!"

Naruto sighed. He had just said that it was possible based on his hypothesis hadn't he? Whatever. He gave Issei a smile. "Fine," he chuckled, "I you manage to do that, I'll take a swimsuit photoshoot for the photo club _and_ write a smut novel with you as the protagonists. It'll be filled with a bunch of illicit scenes with hot woman, and if it ever comes out that someone wants to make a movie about it, I'll let you be the lead male actor. Deal?"

He had barely finished his question before Issei had sprung across the room, and grabbed Naruto's hand.

"Deal!" Issei shouted shaking Naruto's whole arm. "You better hold up your end of the deal!"

"No worries," Naruto said, pulling his hand out of Issei's grasp. "Now is there any other questions?" Less hands rose this time, but still enough. "Yes?" Naruto asked pointing at another student.

"What type of tests did you perform?" she asked as Issei made his way back to his seat.

"Mostly psychological ones on random students that tested human adaptability," he replied then laughed at the wide eyes of his classmates. "Don't worry all of the embarrassing ones I pulled on Issei."

"W-what!" Issei shouted from his spot. "You-"

"You remember that vendor last wednesday?" Naruto asked cutting across Issei. "The one with the huge melons?" Issei's face immediately lit up int recognition before becoming deathly pale.

"Y-you mean th-the one that…" Naruto nodded, giving the boy a foxy smile. "You pranked me!" Issei exclaimed, once again jumping from his chair and pointing an accusing finger at Naruto.

"No," Naruto said, unaffected the glares he was getting not only from Issei but from the rest of the class, "I did a psychological test. No prank. Besides, I don't know what you are talking about. You all seem to think that I am the one who is the cause of your… misfortune."

"Ah, maybe because every time someone someone does something to you, they end up on the wrong side of 'fortune."

"Not to mention you are the only one that hasn't been pranked."

"Yeah, you even got Tsukiko-sensei!"

At that Naruto had the decensy to look sheepish. He turned to the teacher who refused to look at him, rubbing the back of his head. "Hehe, well that's true that I have never been pranked, but I say that I'm just lucky. And if I was the prankster, I'd apologize very sincerely as I had no idea that she was just going to wear a white shirt that day. But sense I'm Naruto I can only say that orange was my favorite color beforehand, and that I think Tsukiko looks really good in that color."

At Naruto's words, Tsukiko's face practically exploded into red, her lips pursed tightly. In all honesty, he was partially at fault for that whole ordeal. But in his defense he had expected a substitute teacher after she had admitted that she had felt sick the day before. Not only that, but even if she had come to school, she should have chosen that day of all days to forgo wearing her grey vest.

To his credit he had reacted quickly after the bucket had fallen and had covered her with his blazer.

Before anything else could happen the school bell rang, and the students seemed to forget everything besides going to clubs or home. Naruto waited at the head of the class, bidding goodby to Issei as the brunet passes by him. Less than a minute after the class had ended Naruto was left in a classroom with his teacher alone, except for the desks and chairs.

"So," he started, "How'd I do?"

"A minus at least," Tsukiko said without missing a beat, turning to several papers on her desk. "In still need to talk to Etsu-sensei before I finalize the grade."

"Really?" he asked. "I could have sworn I got a perfect."

"A minus," Tsukiko emphasized, pinning him with a glare. "Take this as punishment on pranking Issei-san. The poor boy probably didn't know what happened to him."

"Yeah, yeah sensei," Naruto waved off her glare, not culled in the least to stop his pranks. "Anyway," he said slipping off the table and hopping onto her desk, "Wanna go out to eat tonight?"

Tsukiko deadpanned. "You do realize that sound like you're asking me on a date, don't you?"

Naruto waved his hand in the air as if shooing a really persistent fly. "I don't really care about how it sounds. It got my point across, so that's good enough for me. So, you comin'?"

Tsukiko shrugged, not even looking up from her paperwork.

"It's thursay."

She grunted.

"It's my turn to pay," he added almost as an afterthought. He grinned when his teacher slowly looked at him. "How's sushi sound?"

"... Five minutes."

Ten minutes later, Naruto was walking down the street, hands shoved into his pockets, Tsukiko by his side, her hands holding her purse in front of her, the last of the school disappearing in the distance.

"So," he called to his companion, "Expensive and no dessert, or cheaper, dessert and a movie?"

His teacher raised an eyebrow that Naruto didn't see as he was focusing ahead. "My Naruto," she said her voice holding a coy tone to it, "This _does_ sound like a date. Is there something you want to tell me?" Naruto grunted and she laughed. "While I'm flattered, I must tell you I will not partake in any illicit action with my students."

"Take it how you want," Naruto grunted. "So which one?"

"I'll go with the second option."

"Okay." Naruto grabbed her arm and pulled her gently to the side, before he took out his phone and started searching for movies at the local cinemas. Quickly finding something, Naruto glanced up at his teacher and flashed her a grin. "Alright, Tsukiko-sensei, I found something that we can watch, but we'll have to wait for dinner. That okay?"

Tsukiko brought a hand up and tapped a finger to her chin in thought. "Sure," she said after some thought, "but I want chocolate."

Chuckling to himself, Naruto jerked his head to the side and started walking in the direction of the theater, his teacher's heels tapping on the concrete beside him. Luckily the theater was relatively close, and they got there before the movie started. Naruto snorted when the ticket seller and concessions guy gave him a conspicuous (Or so they thought) thumbs up.

They took seats toward the middle of the theater as it was relatively empty. The previews weren't even started but Tsukiko was already starting on her Hershey's bar, a happy smile on her face. Naruto chuckled to himself.

' _Woman and chocolate… '_ he thought as he popped a buttery colonel of popcorn into his mouth. He'd never understand their fascination, but then again, he didn't need to. He just needed to have enough money to buy it and they'd be content, so, by default, would he.

Being a guy was actually easy.

"Why do you do this?" Tsukiko asked, snapping him out of his thoughts, half her chocolate gone. "At least once a week we go out, more most the time, and you always ask on thursdays or fridays. Why?"

Chewing his lip in thought for a second, Naruto shifted in his seat so that he was turned partially to her. "It's to say thank you."

Tsukiko cocked her head to the side, her green eye glistening in the theater lights. "For what?"

Naruto smiled. "For being there when no one was."

Realization dawned in her face, before she frowned. "Naruto," she started, "I was just doing my job not-" She stopped when Naruto started furiously shaking his head.

"We both know that you went above and beyond what your job entails."

It was true, and Naruto knew it while Tsukiko constantly tried to downplay everything that she had done. For as long as Naruto could remember he had been alone, his mother having reportedly died in a car accident when he was four. He didn't remember her, except for red hair, only having a strange red spiral necklace to remember her by which he wore around his neck at all times. After the accident, having no one as a guardian, Naruto was put into the orphanage in the village that he had been living in. The village was small, not even having a name and not even being able to be found on a map. The people there had been extremely superstitious, and had found the fact that Naruto had survived the accident without a scratch a bad omen.

For years Naruto had been labeled as a demon, suffering neglect and abuse from the villagers. Nothing lethal, but he still had scars to prove it. Surprisingly enough, despite being such a small village the were still technologically up to date, which turned out to Naruto's saving grace. For the eight years that Naruto had been in the village after his mother's death, he had been ostracized and left out, beaten on occasion, his only escape being books, music, singing, writing and nature, which led him to being the top of his class.

One day a satellite repair crew came from the next town over. They came with two men and left with a small stow away (Naruto) in the back. It took several hours for the van to reach the next town and twelve year old Naruto spent the time reading and snacking on some food he had bought beforehand. When the van made it to the town, a city really, Naruto ran away before the men could even find out that they had a little boy on board.

From then on, Naruto went to a publisher and had a story that he had written published. It had taken a lot of work to even get the guy to read it, but once he had, it took considerably less effort to get it published under his real name. Having taken $25,000 in cash up front with a hefty percentage of the profits, Naruto had considerably more trouble getting a place to say, but in the end he did. He stayed in the town for four more years until he finished middle school. As a genius, he could have finished middle school in only a year, another half if he had decided to be a little lazy, but he decided that he'd stay with kids his age.

Even though he was no longer in his village, Naruto was still ousted, not as severely or harshly as before, but kids still avoided him, and he was later labeled as a delinquent when he defeated some kids after they attacked him for his hair color. It soon became too much for Naruto, so toward the end of his middle school days, Naruto had decided that he'd go to a high school in a different city, and if he was still treated badly he'd commit suicide.

So he took the entrance exam for Kuoh Acadamy, passed with a perfect score, moved to Kuoh, and attended the school as a first year. But even with Naruto trying to break out of his shell and being nice to people, the students still held him at arm's length at best. At the end of the first month of his first year, rumors started that he was in league with some big time yakuza, or that he was a demon that had killed his family and bathed in their blood in return for super intelligence. The stares and way people shied away from him had shattered the last of Naruto's resolve and he decided that it was over for him.

So after a week of staying at his home to write the first book of his second series, _Icha Icha_ , Naruto went to school ignoring the questions of his teachers and just attended classes. Then, well after the last bell rang, Naruto made his way to the school roof, where he prepared himself to jump, and he would have if it wasn't for one person.

Kohana Tsukiko.

She had apparently heard about his disappearance and how he had ignored his teachers that day in the staff room that day and was a little curious. By a fortunate, for Naruto, hapstance she had stayed late that day, and had heard him walking through the halls by himself. Curious, she followed him to the roof where he was about to jump. Now being a second year teacher, she didn't have any interaction with the blond, and it as well being her first year teaching she didn't really know a lot about what teachers were suppose to do in certain situations, but in that instance she didn't hesitate.

Just as he was about to step off, she sprang forward and pulled him back into a hug.

Naruto stunned at first, didn't know what had happened, but when he heard the green haired woman crying something inside of himself snapped and he cried for the first time that he could remember. For a whole week after that, she hadn't left him alone, making sure that he ate, slept and didn't try to kill himself again.

In the end, Naruto had decided that he wouldn't, and instead chose to listen to the woman and find something to live for. So, Naruto had decided that he'd live to pay her back for what she did for him. Sense then, Naruto had decided that she was the only person that he would willingly die for.

She is the closest person Naruto had to someone that cared for him in his life.

"Naruto-"

"Shh," he cut her off, "the previews are starting."

The lights dimmed in the theater, and the film reel started rolling. Still Naruto could still feel his teacher's gaze on him.

Half way through the movie, Naruto got up to get a refill of popcorn. Whispering some words in Tsukiko's ear, Naruto stood and left as the male and female lead of the movie stared longingly into each other's eyes. It wasn't the choice of movie Naruto would have chosen if he was by himself, but Tsukiko was a sucker for romance movies.

After grabbing a refill for his popcorn, Naruto, on a whim, bought another bar of chocolate for Tsukiko and some licorice for them to share. Returning to his movie, Naruto couldn't help but stop and blink as the protagonist's butt was displayed on screen.

' _...'_ deciding it wasn't worth focusing on, Naruto climbed back to his seat. Luckily by the time he sat down next to Tsukiko the scene had changed..

"Here," he whispered to his teacher, handing her the chocolate.

"Thanks."

He grunted, throwing popcorn into his mouth. Rather unexpectedly, Tsukiko wrapped her arms around his, her head leaning on his shoulder. Blinking a little, Naruto shrugged it off, and went back to eat his popcorn making sure not to jostle her if he could.

By the time the movie ended, the popcorn was gone as was half the bag of licorice. Naruto and Tsukiko stepped out the cinema, her arms still wrapped around his. Taking a deep breath, Naruto turned to his teacher.

"Well that ran longer than expected," he said. It was almost six in the afternoon, and he still had to take her to dinner and get her dessert before the night was over. He was really glad that it was near the end of the week.

Tsukiko smiled at him. "Mmm!"

Chuckling, Naruto pulled her down the street. "Come on. I know a place around here that serves good sushi." Naruto was internally glad that he had just got another check from the publishing company. Tsukiko could eat her weight and a half again in sushi.

And that was on a good night.

Soon enough they were seated in a local family run restaurant seated in a both. Tea rested in front of each of them as they sat in a silence, gazing at the sky outside as it turned from yellow to orange to red then purple and finally a deep blue.

"Ne, Naruto," Tsukiko said into the silence, "How do you pay for all of this? We've done this a lot, yet you always pay for at least one thing."

"Trade secret," he said, laughing when Tsukiko pouted. "Fine, fine. I write books," he said.

"Naruutooo," she whined, her bottom lip jutting out slightly. Naruto suppressed a laugh. It was always good to see this side of his teacher, the one where she was just a giant highschool girl. "I _know_ that. I read your work, it's good by the way, but you can't possibly still be getting money for a book that came out several years ago."

Inwardly flattered that she liked the book, Naruto had to stop himself from just blurting out that most of the money that he had came from his _Icha Icha_ series. Woman hated 'Jiraiya the Sage' for creating such perverted books despite them being the forerunners whenever a new shipment of them come in too the bookstores. It's for the romance, they say.

Right.

"Actually," Naruto said after taking a sip of tea to buy himself to formulate a conceivable lie. "I am," he said, which was the truth but it wasn't much and judging from Tsukiko's face she had reached the same conclusion. "But," he said, "I just got paid because I'm releasing the first book to a series that I'm writing currently. I have the first two books finished and I just brought the first one into my publisher yesterday."

"Really!?" Tsukiko asked, startling him with her enthusiasm. "When is it coming out?"

"A couple of months. I'm not sure," Naruto said, sweating nervously inside. _'Note to self: go to the publisher tomorrow.'_ He did have the books done, but had been putting it off for a little bit of time now.

"What's it about? Where's it take place? It it a female protagonist again this time? When's it taking place? Can I read it before it's published?" Naruto sat back a little, surprised by the barrage of question. To be honest with himself, he didn't even remember all her question, they all just kind of ran together and he wasn't able to discern one from another. Still, despite the situation, Naruto couldn't help smirking. Tsukiko was a great teacher and very mature, but he found out pretty early that sometime she could be just like a highschool girl one a sugar high.

It was pretty cute.

"The series is called _The Ninja Way_ and the first book is called _Scrolls and Kunai_. Sorry, It's not going to have a female protagonists, but there are going to be great female supports." He paused to take a sip of tea. "As for if you can read it before it's published…" he made a face, "maybe a little itty-bitty bit."

Tsukiko's face lit up as she smile so wide that her eye closed. She flashed him a peace sign. "Thanks, Naruto-kun."

Smiling to himself, Naruto couldn't help but feel his heart jump a little. "I didn't you were such a big fan."

Tsukiko seemed to realize what had just happened and looked a bit sheepish. She scratched the back of her neck. "W-well yeah," she stuttered. "I really do enjoy your work."

"Oh? do you want an autograph?"

She snorted. "Hardly," she said. "I'm your teacher. I've seen you penmanship."

"Oi!" he exclaimed in mock anger. "My handwriting is superb!"

"More like subpar," she said airily, her words like arrows that stabbed through Naruto. Crumbling onto the table, a dark cloud formed over Naruto's head.

"S-subpar…"

Tsukiko giggled behind her hand, snapping Naruto out of his dark state as he looked up at her and smiled.

"Ne, Tsukiko," Naruto called cautiously, deciding to forgo using an honorific to see if she was okay with it. She smiled at him. "How your life?" he asked causing her to develop a curious look. "It's just," he started, sitting up and swirling the tea in his cup, "whenever we do stuff like this we never really talk about you. I know some stuff about you, but I still don't know _you._ So I was just wondering…" he trailed off unexpectedly bashful.

He glanced up to see Tsukiko staring at him with an unreadable expression, before she sighed, and took a sip of her tea. Setting it down, she looked out her window.

"I never knew my mother," she stated. "I was told that I look like her though, but I grew up with my father. He was a great man and always supported me no matter how hard life was. We lived in the lower end of Tokyo where crimes were pretty common, but no one ever messed with me or my dad. Actually no one messed with our whole neighborhood. You see, dad was ex-military, Special Forces, and knew how to protect himself and me. Anyway, I grew up with my dad, and he never got with another lady besides my mom despite being rather good looking. So it goes without saying I'm an only child.

"I went to school, did good. Great actually. I graduated at the age of thirteen, but by that time my dad had contracted cancer. He was a smoker you see. Sense he was seven if he's to be believed." She laughed a little, a clear sound that sounded a little sad and bitter if her face was anything to go by. She paused, obviously lost in thought. Naruto didn't say anything, but nearly panicked at the site of a single tear rolling out from underneath her green hair that covered her eye. "He died when I was eighteen," she continued probably not realizing that she was. "I was at college at the time in England. Even when he was sick he insisted that I go…" Another tear fell.

"Despite his death I managed to graduate at the head of my class, and even go back to get my masters in Language and English Literature. When I got my masters two years ago, I realized that I didn't know what I wanted to do. I had been so focused on finishing college I didn't think about what happened after. My father… he always told me to get my schooling, to finish so that I don't have to work but do something that I like. Yet when I finished… I didn't have friends or any family left, so after about of month of working as a secretary for some big-time CEO, a job I got just because of my looks, I decided that I wanted to teach, and came to Kuoh Academy."

Naruto saw her hands clench on top of the table.

"Dad wanted to be a teacher, but had decided to go into the army because he couldn't get the grades… Maybe i-if I had stayed… Would he-" She stopped, her body stiffening when Naruto reached across the table and took her hands in his own. They were small, but more importantly, they were trembling. Tsukiko turned back to him, her eye wide and slightly frightened. Not deterred Naruto smiled at her.

"I'm sure he would be very proud of you," he said making her eye widen even more. "I never had anyone that cared about me the way your father obviously did, but there is no doubt that any parent would be proud if their child had done what you did." He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the back of her hand. Her skin was smooth, he noted idly. "Are you getting enough money to live comfortably?" he asked, the random question startling the greenette.

"Y-yeah."

"Do you love what you do?"

"Mostly."

"Do you still love you father?"

"Yes."

"Are you happy?"

At this one she paused, her lips pursed. Her eyes flickered to their joined hands, before landing on his own blue ones. She nodded.

Naruto smiled at her.

Not his usual happy-go-lucky smile, or even his foxy smirk, but his genuine, soft, comfortable smile. He stood a little, his hands leaving hers and reaching up to gently caress her face, his thumbs wiping the tears.

"Then don't cry because I have no doubt that your father would be proud."

Tsukiko sat stunned for a second, before his words and position hit her. A blush sprang up on her cheeks but a watery smile lit up her face. "Naruto…"

They stared at each other for a second, before a cough broke them out of their moment. Naruto practically sprang back into chair, while Tsukiko turned her head trying to hide her burning face.

"Your food," the waitress said, a guilty look on her face.

After dinner Naruto had decided to take Tsukiko for a short walk through a park. He lived nearby, and he knew that she didn't live too far from him though he had never been to her place. Ever since their moment at the restaurant Tsukiko seemed to be constantly smiling, her arm wrapped around his as he led her through the city.

Just before they had entered the park, Naruto had bought both of them dessert.

"What flavor do you want," he had asked her.

"Strawberry," she had replied instantly. "It's my favorite."

It was his as well.

They were walking through the park, a comfortable silence between them as they watched the last tendrils of sunlight receed from the sky.

It was nice, Naruto realized. He had enjoyed their day together, he always did, but it was more than just that. He had looked forward spending time with Tsukiko, and, even though his wallet was slightly thinner (something he blamed on the cinema more than Tsukiko), he wasn't annoyed that he had spent the money because it had obviously made her happy. Not to mention he relished in the feel of her body next to his. He wasn't going to do anything perverted, actually he wasn't even thinking of anything perverted, it was just that it was a new experience that he never really was able to experience before.

The feel of being close to someone physically was something that he desired for as long as he could remember, and now he was finally experiencing it.

"You wanted to read the new book that I'm having published, right?" he asked Tsukiko. She glanced at him, her eye leaving his half-eaten cone and resting on his face. she nodded. "Would you like to come with me to my place to get the final draft?"

She smiled at him, a mischievous light coming from her eye. "On one condition," she said.

"What?"

"I want your ice cream," she replied causing Naruto to sweatdrop.

' _Really? What's up with this girl?'_ he thought. _'She really has a sweet tooth...'_ Heaving a sigh, Naruto just held his ice cream cone out to her, which she quickly took and licked.

"Okay, Naruto, you can, ah, take me too your place," she said wagging her eyebrows suggestively. Naruto flushed, regretting his choice of words. Tsukiko laughed at his flushed face, making Naruto crack a small grin.

"Come on," he said pulling her along the path.

"Oh my!" Tsukiko exclaimed, her voice sugary sweet sending a shiver down Naruto's spine. "Your so forceful Naruto-kun," she said before she leaned in close to him her lips next to his ear. "Luckily for you, I can do rough."

The synapsis in Naruto's brain seemed to stop firing for a second, all the electricity that would have been created ran through his body causing his right hand to clench involuntarily. He stood still for a second, frozen, before Tsukiko's bell-like laugh in his mind. Snapping shut his mouth that had involuntarily fallen opened, Naruto gave his teacher a glare that lacked any real heat.

"Hahaha- ah, Na-Naruto-kun you sh-hould have- have seen your face," she gasped out. She clutched his arm tightly, leaning on him so as not to fall. Giving a large sigh, Naruto ran his hand through his hair. What had he gotten himself into?

He started off again, scowling. The greenette stumbled a little at the sudden motion, but started laughing with renewed vigor when she saw his face.

It took them only a couple of minutes to reach Naruto's apartment building, but by the time they reached it it was fully dark out, the streetlights shining in the night like orange fire. The duo stopped at the door of the apartment building.

"Do you want to come in, or do you want to wait here?" Naruto asked, getting a deadpanned stare in return. "Let me rephrase that; would you like tea or coffee?"

"I would like some coffee," she replied back, a smile springing up on her face. Naruto internally sighed, as he turned to open the door with his key.

' _Jeez...'_ he thought as he fished through his pocket. taking it out, Naruto fitted the correct key into the lock giving it a nice twist hearing the lock give a nice _shunk!_ Opening the door, Naruto turned.

"Welcome to La Casa de…" he glanced over his shoulder only to see open space. Blinking in surprise, Naruto glanced to his left seeing nothing other than the empty street. Giving a quick glance up in the absurd case that she grew wings to escape from him, he was actually happy to see that she hadn't .Turning to the right didn't see anything, at least at first.

As he was about to call out Tsukiko's name, he saw the light of the streetlamp shine off of something. Turning back to the right, Naruto squinted before his eyes widened.

It was a single black heeled shoe.

Feeling his blood run cold, Naruto dashed down the sidewalk, stopping once he reached the shoe. He stopped and picked it up, about to examine it when he heard a stifled groan a little further down the street. Panic flooded Naruto's system, and he dashed down the sidewalk in a sprint.

He nearly passed her, and when he saw he nerely wished he had. The ally she was in was small and thin, barely wide enough for two people to walk abreast. She was resting at the back of the alley, her back against the rough brick. Her face was ashen and sweetly, and even from where he stood Naruto could see the pain that her emerald green eye reflected, and he could see why.

There, right underneath her ribs, was a hole the size of a fist punched cleaned. Blood was flowing freely from the wound drenching her from waist down. Naruto would have thrown up at the sight if it had been anyone other than Tsukiko, but instead he gave into his panic. She started leaning to one side.

"Tsukiko!" he called, dashing to her side, catching her just in time to prevent her from hitting the ground. He pulled her body close to his, his hand pressed onto the wound hoping to stem the blood coming from wound. "Tsukiko!" he called again, his throat feeling tight. "Hey! can you hear me!?"

"N-not so… loud, Nar-Naruto-kun." Her voice was barely above a whisper, laced with immense pain, but still she managed to lock her eye on his, smiling slightly.

"T-Tsukiko," he murmured. His throat suddenly felt like something was being crushed, and his eyes blurred. A band seemed to tighten around his chest. "Tsukiko, d-don't. Please…"

Tsukiko smile got larger, her lips pulled back to reveal a bloody smile. "Naruto-kun…" she said one last time before her eye seemed to lose focus.

"Tsu-Tsukiko," Naruto called, swallowing passed the lump in his throat. The band tightened around his chest, almost like it was sinking into his skin. "Tsukiko…" he said again reaching a hand up to gently brush her hair out of her face. Her other eye was closed. Her smile was still upon her lips, and Naruto realized that his tasted salty. "I-I love you hair, Tsukiko," he said caressing her face leaving a bloody trail after his fingers. She was still warm.

The band around his chest seemed to sink into his chest, wrapping around something inside him. He pushed against it, hated it for some reason. He didn't want it. He wanted Tsukiki, not whatever the band was. He wanted, _needed_ , Tsukiko.

"Pl-please," he said, his breaths coming in a gasps. "Please don't leave me. I… I can't stand i-it… I don't w-want to be alone a-again. Please… please… _please!_ "

A hand round purchase on Naruto's shoulder yet he didn't look, his eyes were scanning Tsukiko's face memorizing it. Something in his chest reacted to the hand. It yearned for it, lurched for it but the band held, pulling it back.

"You want her back?" a voice asked. It was soft, motherly, soothing.

"Yes," Naruto said, his words tearing his throat.

"You care for her?"

"Yes."

"...Why?"

"She is all I have."

The voice was silent for a while, before another hand rested on his other shoulder. The thing in his chest jumped again, causing Naruto to gasp as the band buckled nearly snapping before it contracted like a fist squeezing his heart. "What if I told you," the voice sounded right next to his ear, his sight growing black, "that I can bring her back."

Naruto's body jerked. He would have sprang up. He would have yelled this entity that, that was exactly what he wanted. He would have done all that, but the band tightened again and Naruto could only groan, his vision completely gone. A numbness started creeping through his body.

"It'll cost you though," the voice said, and Naruto found himself seeking it out in the blackness. "What will you give me in return?"

The numbness crept further into his body, the strength of his legs and arms and legs left him

' _Anything,'_ Naruto thought, wishing he would talk. But it seemed he didn't need to because the voice apparently heard.

"Anything?" it mused sounded pleased. "Yes that will do." Suddenly Naruto drew in a shaky breath, as the band was pulled back. His vision returned and his eyes fell upon the downed form of Tsukiko. "You need to push," the voice said once again right next to ear. "Push and trust your instincts."

Naruto did just that. He pushed against the band, and felt warmth enter his whole body.

"Good," the voice said. "More."

And so Naruto did. He pushed more, and then more, and more and more until the band was stretched to the extreme and he couldn't push anymore.

"That's great, Naruto-kun. Now focus. Focus on the wound and push it away. _Will_ it away."

His eyes landed on Tsukiko's face, pale and slack. He eyes trailed down her body halting where the hole was.

' _That's not suppose to be there...'_

"No, it isn't."

' _Fix… it…'_

"Yes, fix it. Will it away."

' _Will it away?'_

"Will it away."

' _Will...'_ Naruto focused, imagining the wound wasn't there. He imagined smooth healthy skin unblemished and untarnished. Pain exploded in Naruto's chest, but he ignored it and instead focused and willed with all of his might. Gold light filled Naruto's vision, but he didn't close his eyes allowing him to watch as the hole in Tsukiko slowly stitched itself closed until there was nothing but smooth, pink-tinged skin.

Suddenly the thing in Naruto's chest snapped, and Naruto felt warmth flood through his entire being. The world exploded into gold, and Naruto felt the strength leave his quickly as it came. Falling backwards, Naruto felt himself being caught by a small but strong hands. His eyelids felt heavy, and his eyes wouldn't focus. Slowly the world lost its golden glow, and Naruto was able to see white hair. With an extreme force of will Naruto focused his eyes, and found his staring into three, two pale lavender and a third bloodred.

The action proved to be almost too much for him, as his eyelids finally closed.

"Who… you… ?"

Darkness encircled him as the last of his consciousness was drained from him.

"Your destined one," he heard the voice say as if from several miles away. "Any you are mine…"

He wanted to ask more. He was so curious. But he was _so_ tired. Before he could ask more or even think to ask more, the last of his strength drained away, taking his consciousness along with it.

When he opened his eyes again, he was looking at the sky. It was dotted with puffy clouds that seemed to morph when he looked at it taking shapes of rather random things.

A bunny.

A ship.

A book.

A drop of water

A person.

Naruto didn't know how long he gazed at the sky, but he found it hard to look away as if it was compelling him look. With an enormous force of will, Naruto blinked. He paused then did it again. And then again. Then again, and again, and again, before he was able to close his eyes for a prolonged period of time which he used to draw in a deep breath.

The air was different, he realized. Not in a bad way, though, cleaner, maybe a little thinner, but cleaner and… herbier

' _Is that even a word?'_

Pushing the thought away, Naruto found that it was getting easier to do a second to reconnect himself with his body, Naruto heaved himself into a sitting position. He was in the middle of a rather large clearing. The trees were larger and greener than any he had ever seen before, the undergrowth below the canopy of trees was illuminated by the sunlight streaming through the thousands of holes in between the leaves.

Naruto slowly got to his feet, his gaze sweeping around him trying to find anything other than trees.

' _Where am I? What's going on?'_

He stood in the middle of the clearing still contemplating what to do. Should he go? Where? What if he went in the wrong way? Was there any civilization around? was there any civilization at all? Was there anything to eat?

Grimacing at the number of questions that suddenly sprang into his head, Naruto wasn't ready for the pulse of malevolent energy that suddenly washed over him.

It was thick and heavy. He felt that if it had a form it would want nothing more than to destroy the world, to see the greenery that he was seeing right now burning in a sea of flames so hot that the dirt would be reduced to ash, and the stone would turn to lava that flowed over the world and boiled the ocean into mist. It felt large and negligent of life, as if just one touch from it would take the life of whatever sentient lifeform that it touched.

The scariest thing about it was that he felt connected to it. He felt comforted by it, like he was sure that whatever gave of that feeling wasn't a problem for him to be concerned about because it wouldn't turn it's malevolence on him.

Turning in the direction that the energy came from, Naruto couldn't help but swallow the saliva that accumulated in his mouth.

What the hell happened to his life?

AN: How did you like it? Please review and PM me if you feel like it. Also please read my bio. The next chapter will come out soon.

~Sempai


	2. Chapter 2

AN: HOLY SHIT GUYS! Are you _freaking_ kidding me!? You guys are without a doubt the best. I mean, come on, almost 6,000 views, 375 Favorites, 461 followers, and 62 reviews!? Are you guys trying to kill me with happiness.

I am so glad that so many people like the story. It's been in the think tank for a while so I'm happy beyond words that people have taken the time to review and even follow or favorite this.

I have gotten several PM's and comments on whether I killed Tsukiko or not, and would like to say, I am NOT George R.R. Martin so I won't kill an obviously important character in the first chapter. I hope that, that has set your mind at ease, if not please read and you will find out. Also, the fact that you guys like my OC (she is an original character) is something that makes me really prideful because I've read several stories that have been ruined by OC's. I was going to take her out, but I decided against it at the last second. Good choice I guess.

Lastly I will express right now that I do not have the full harem planned out but I do have several woman that will be involved. Only they are concrete, if I take any suggestion into consideration it doesn't mean that they are in, only that they have a possibility. I probably would have just about every woman with Naruto but it would retract from the storyline/plot so if I don't put someone in, it's because of that.

Now heres the second chapter of **Naruto: Catalyst of the Supernatural**.

Naruto woke rather suddenly, his heart in his throat that served to stop the startled yell that welled up from his chest. Taking several seconds to regain a stable breathing pattern and swallow his heart back into his chest, e glanced around, blinking in surprise when he saw that he was in his livingroom.

 _'H-how…?'_

the last thing he remembered was…

Naruto nearly bolted off of his couch, but his sudden movement sent a wave of nausea through him, making bile rise in his throat. He had just gotten to his apartment building with Tsukiko-sensei, and had invited her inside when-

The image of his teacher jumped to the forefront of his mind as did the bile in his throat leaving his mouth stuck with a sticky tongue and a bad taste. For a second the taste whipped everything from his mind and he really thought that Tsukiko was really dead. His eyes stung with unshed tears his living room becoming blurry before his mind rebooted and he remembered the voice, his deal, the painful sensation in his body, then blackness.

 _'And that forest,'_ he reminded himself, _'And that… malice...'_

To be totally honest, Naruto had no idea that that feeling was. He couldn't remember much after the feeling had washed over him. He knew he walked somewhere, not far, before his memory faded. Feeling his nausea fade away, Naruto sat up, slowly this time as not to aggravate anythings.

His apartment was small; two bedrooms, two-and-a-half baths. Completely furnished with all the essentials: refrigerator, stove, oven, microwave, couches, love chairs, a small coffee table, beds and even a small bedside table in his room. Despite being fully furbished he still lacked things that normal houses had for pleasures like a tv or even an excess of blankets having only two extras for winter.

Standing up from his rather lumpy couch, Naruto stretched clasping his hands above his head and reached up as if trying to touch the sky. He stayed that way for a couple of seconds before releasing his tense muscles with a relieved sighed. He glanced around more intently than before, his eyes landing on the pile of things on the coffee table surrounded by the couches and loveseats. Since he didn't have any room for an actual table, his living room also served as dining room, the rest of the main area was taken up by the small kitchen behind him. On the other side of the living room, he decided to call it that, was the doors for the two bedrooms and the single full bathroom, a half bathroom was connected to the master.

He picked up the top things on the pile, his phone and wallet. It sat on top of his school bag, to its side sat some pencils, pens, his headphones and small writing pad. Touching the power button on his phone, Naruto stared at the time for a second.

 _'9:24...'_ he blinked, before his brows furrowed then shooting up. _'Shit! It's 9:2- 9:25 now! Stop ticking!'_ Naruto shot off of toward the bathroom falling on his face halfway there.

"HERE!" Naruto yelled as he slammed the door open, starling Etsu-sensei so much that she gave a loud _"Kyaa!"_ and jumped her hands coming up to clutch her heart. The rest of the class was no better off, the girls, practically the whole class, had jumped at one another in groups ranging from just twos to even five. The boys were even worse, there were only two other than Naruto, and they both disgraced themselves worse than any of the other students.

One screamed louder than the girls and dove under several girls, who collectively kicked him in the face sending back into his desk.

The other dove at the window, hoping to escape, but just rebounded back onto the ground knocked out.

Naruto sighed lightly seeing their reaction. Sure he had shown up rather suddenly, but that really didn't justify their reaction… does it? He glanced at himself and suddenly realized how wild he looked. His blazer and shirt were unbuttoned, revealing a burnt orange shirt that he didn't even know he had. He was wearing dark jeans and instead of his usual dress shoes he wore to school he had black and white sneakers. His hair was probably more wild than usual, as it was out of his customary ponytail (he had left to quickly to grab some string or a hairty).

Realizing that everyone was still frozen in shock, Naruto gave a sheepish cuckle scratching the back of his head.

"Hehe, Sorry, Etsu-sensei," he said.

Etsu, his teacher, was a lady in her thirties with brown hair that fell a little past her shoulders in bouncy curls that jumped when she walked. She had a soft face, with a small cut on the corner of her mouth that was practically impossible to see unless one looked closely. Her eyes were black, and always seemed to sparkle even when the light wasn't hitting them at an angle, but when they did…

She was actually rather short, with breasts that were proportional to her body. Wide hips, long legs, an and athletic body as to be expected from the coach of the kendo club. She was a woman held in high regard, with an impressive background, academically and professionally. Despite that though, she actually had a shy disposition, at least at first to anyone who wasn't her students. With her students she was a stern but motherly teacher that came out when she felt comfortable with the company she was around.

She was by no means meek as some girl delinquents learned rather early last year.

"Uzumaki-kun!" she exclaimed, causing Naruto to blink in surprise. Etsu rarely if ever rose her voice. It was one of her qualities that was rather difficult to get used to as she spoke on a decibel level or two below the norm. "What in the lord's name possessed you to do that?" she asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Uh…I was late, an-"

"Yes," Etsu interrupted him, her voice back to its regular soft setting but it held a chip of ice in it so cold that Naruto shivered. "You were late, Uzumaki-kun, but that does not give you an excuse for disrupting class in such a way that you not only interrupt my lecture, but also startled the class, myself included. Now" she said, her voice dropping another octave, "do you have something to say? Maybe an explanation on why you are showing up to school during _third_ period."

Naruto felt like a cube of ice had been slid down his back and physically had to hold himself from shivering. "A-ahh, um," he started before clearing his throat. "Well you see," he started letting the words flow from his mouth, "I slept in, but when I woke up I realized that If I didn't hurry I'd miss Etsu-sensei class, so I ran all the way here so that I could witness Etsu-sensei's beauty."

The brunette looked at Naruto for a second before she smiled a smile so wide that her black eyes closed and she looked more like she was bearing her rather pointy looking canine teeth at him. Naruto froze at the sight of that smile. It spelled doom for everyone that had ever been on the receiving end of it.

It was the smile of the devil.

Before Naruto could even attempt to move, Etsu's cursed yardstick flashed through the air striking at his body seven times: once on his left calf and thigh, thrice on his arm, and lastly on his neck and the crown of his head.

Naruto crumpled to the ground the whole left side of his body already numb.

"Get to your seat, Uzumaki-kun," Etsu said above him, her smile still firmly in place. "And make sure that you fix your attire, or I shall stop giving you light taps."

The day passed quickly for Naruto, though each second felt as if it had taken an eternity. He was practically thrumbing with energy, something that he wasn't unused to as he usually had stamina far higher than anyone he had ever met, but now… it felt as if he could go several days just straight sprinting with no food and still be fine. It was all he could do to not jump out of his seat in whatever class he was in at any given. Even now walking down the halls his bag held over his shoulder with one hand, he felt like he was going to burst with energy

Needless to say he could barely focus. He even had several bruises from Etsu-sensei to attest to it.

Lunch had been his only reprieve where he had been allowed to disappear for a while. He'd taken to the forest-like thicket of trees on the academy grounds to see if he could release whatever pent up energy that he had, the result had caused him to nearly have a meltdown.

How the hell had he been able to jump higher than the treeline, and survive crashing through a tree?

Luckily he had been far away from anyone, and as no one had asked anything about a loud bang, so he'd assumed the answer to the question was both yes and no. _If a tree fell in a forest and no one was around, did it make any noise?_ It obviously made noise (As had Naruto when it had landed on him), but if no one was close enough for their eardrums to pick up the vibrations it emitted than the noise it made was negligible.

Despite having practically dove headfirst through a tree, and being subsequently squashed by said tree, Naruto had gotten out of it unscathed. His clothes hadn't even been scratched, though he did have to make sure that he didn't have wood chips in his hair and he smelled like wood and sap.

Naruto stumbled a little, causing his mind to snap back to the present. He blinked a little, slightly startled before his mind registered what had happened. He was in the crowded hallway as everyone was going to their last class of the day before clubs. Naruto suddenly became aware of the weight in his arms.

Looking down, Naruto couldn't help the chuckle that rumbled from his chest. Standing flush against his chest, her two hands clasped into his shirt for support and his arm instinctively wrapped around her waist, was the Student Council President, Shitori Souna.

She was considered the third most beautiful girl in the school, behind Himejima Akeno, and Rias Gremory, the second and first respectively. She was almost a foot shorter than Naruto's six-two hieght, with black hair cut into a short bob cut and dazzling eyes the color of amethyst. Despite being considered the third most beautiful girl in school, she was still leagues ahead of just about any other girl in the school with only a few even coming into consideration for fourth. She was normally a strict, and straightlaced person, being well known for her punishments (Several girls had commented how they liked her punishments, though they wished she would be "gentle with them from time to time"), so the fact that she was currently blushing an impressive shade of red was rather amusing to Naruto.

He and Souna had been academic rivals sense he was always getting the number one spot by a margin of no more than three points. Not to mention that when he was called into her office (How the hell did she have such an official looking office!?) whenever… incidents befell some unfortunate students, normally about two times a week, to be interrogated about his whereabouts during the time of the crime.

Needless to say, they spent some time together.

"Hey, Souna-chan," he said cheerfully, smiling down at her.

"U-Uzu… maki-kun?"

Naruto chuckled a little more, seeing the normally unflappable Shitori Souna so out of her element was really something that he enjoyed. It didn't happen often so he decided that he would treasure this a little more. "Are you okay," he asked, the grin on his face splitting open to reveal two rows of pearly white teeth and canines slightly sharper than normal. "You seem to be a little red. Are you getting a fever?"

His arm tightened around her waist, pulling their already close bodies so close he could feel her body against his. She had a really nice figure, like, _really_ nice. Ignoring that fact, Naruto leaned down until his forehead touched her's, never breaking eye contact.

"Hmmm," he hummed, closing the distance between their face just a little bit, fully intent on pulling away after a moment of teasing…

Until the smell of water lilies with an undertone of paper assaulted his nose.

Naruto froze, his blue eyes wide. Lightning seemed to flood through him, and his mind short-circuited but it seemed that his senses had gone into overdrive. Suddenly, the smell of water lilies were overloading his mind, the parchment and mint that he didn't detect earlier were there as well, strangely accenting each other. Suddenly he felt her breath brush lightly on his face, and he unconsciously closed his eyes.

' _ **Take…'**_

Naruto inhaled deeply, her smell washing over him again, more potent than before, and Naruto detected something else there now. Something heady. Something primal. He didn't even question on why he could smell all this, his mind was totally gone, and there was only the smell, and the body pressed tightly to him. As if his body was trying to act on his thoughts, he suddenly became aware of her body.

Her _body_!

' _ **...Take her...'**_

His hand grasped her hip tightly, perhaps too tightly as she gave a small mew. It was quite, nearly silent, and he only heard her because of their close proximity. In spite of it being as soft as the softest whisper, despite it lasting for less than a second it still affected him like a tidal wave had just rushed onto a beach.

His breathing stopped breathing.

He stopped whatever moving.

He stopped seeing.

He felt as if he was drenched in sweat, yet at the same time as dry as if he was standing in the middle of a desert. His heart seemed to have stopped beating, yet at the same seamed to be hammering in his chest with the intensity of a jackhammer. And he could feel her too. Her heartbeat, her breath, the rise and fall of her chest, the swell of her breasts, the gentle curves of her body, the light flair in her hips, the heat of her body…

By Kami he could feel _her_.

He felt like he was losing something, like he was standing outside an ominous entrance and he was suppose to go back but he kept getting closer, and closer… and closer until he was was almost across the threshold…

' _ **Take her!'**_

Naruto sprang back, the feather light feel of the president's lips still on his. Unconsciously he licked his lips, before he bit his bottom lip. He was surrounded by a ring of students, all staring at him and Souna in shock. A sudden wave of nausea swept over him, and he stumbled back a little, the arm that had been wrapped around the Student Council President unwrapping.

"Naruto!" Souna called, one of her hands reaching out to him, before she froze. It took Naruto a second to realize why, and when he did he felt like a blade was being dragged down his spine.

He had nearly kissed Shitori Souna. No, he _had_ kissed her. No matter how light and short it was, their lips had still touched, and, if Souna's reaction was a solid base to build an assumption, it had been her first.

Nevermind the fact that it was his as well.

Naruto's throat was immediately dry. It wasn't that he didn't like the small intimate moment that they had just shared, in fact he liked it. A lot.

Too much.

He had liked it so much that he had nearly been willing to practically take her in the hallway. Hell he had practically molested her in front of a good portion of the student body. The sound of someone clearing their throat drew Naruto out of his mind.

It was Souna.

She was still blushing, and her hands were grasping the hem of her skirt. She moved to speak, shifting her weight slightly onto one foot, her mouth opening.

"Sorry!" Naruto suddenly blurted out, cutting her off. "I was just trying to pull a small prank and it got out of hand. Please forgive me." He turned and pushed through the crowd, not even giving a bow. He didn't even know what he was doing, or even where he was going, he just needed to get out of there.

He pushed, none to gently, through the last of the crowd and fighting the urge to run away as his body wanted him to. He did, actually, and he wasn't proud to admit that he did, but he did. He ran like a pack of wolves were chasing him. The only consolation he had was that he did it right after he turned the corner so that no one saw.

He didn't know how long he ran, but when he did, he was back at the place where he had broken the tree during lunch. He wasn't breathing hard, but he still flopped down tiredly next to the tree his back resting in it's bark.

' _What the hell was that?'_ he asked himself, the fresh memory of Souna flashing through his mind. He had only been trying to capsize on an opportunity that was assured to be a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he had ended up a hair strand away from raping Souna in the hallway.

He shivered, suddenly feeling like a piece of dirt.

The thought that someone would force themselves on someone else was deplorable to him on his best days, and beyond disgusting on his worst. The realization that he had nearly done the act, the fact that his willpower had nearly given into the temptation and he had only been able to stop himself because of a voice in his head that _egged_ him on…

Naruto sighed, the tension in his body leaving suddenly, but the self-loathing stayed for which Naruto was grateful. He would keep that with him to remind him of what he could have done, and use it to keep himself in check.

He breathed in a deep breath, the smell of water lilies invading his senses, causing him to jump to his feet. and gaze around the glade in fear like a wild animal. But after his eyes swept over the area for several second and he didn't see anyone, he allowed himself to relax. Hesitantly breathing in again, Naruto still smelled water lilies, but they were fainter as if the smell was clinging to his clothes.

Groaning he flopped down to the ground, gazing at the white puffy clouds that lazily drifted through the sky. The smell wouldn't last too long, he guessed, a couple of minutes, but it was still annoying because, now that he wasn't about to molest someone, he could feel the new found energy in his body reacting to the smell as if he was reaching. Frowning, he closed his eyes and focused on the energy and nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt himself enclosed in a sea of sunlight that gently caressed him.

Taking another deep breath, the tang of pollen filled his nose again, water lilies mixed with soil and grass. As if having done this a hundred times, Naruto felt the energy inside of him swirl, and he as suddenly aware that the energy he was feeling was somehow separate from him, yet totally intertwined with him. It was his, and it was him.

"Chakra…" he murmured the word springing to the front of his mind like a toad breaching the water's surface. A spike of pain jabbed through his head, and Naruto lost focus, the sea of warmth leaving him. He cracked his eyes opened, and was startled when he heard the school bell in the distance ring.

' _Did the class just start?'_ He grabbed his bag that rested on the ground near him. Reaching in he fished around for a second before he pulled out his phone.

 _2:30pm_

Letting out a startled cry, Naruto surged to his feet and stuffed his phone in his pocket. Making sure to pick up his back, Naruto sprinted toward the New School Building. Somehow he must have fallen asleep or blacked out because it had just been around 1:45 when he had his encounter with Souna. Nimbly stepping around some students that were rounding a corner Naruto stumbled to stop when he reached his destination.

Staring at the door ahead of him, Naruto suddenly remembered the last time he had seen his teacher, pale and bloody in the alleyway next to his building. The trepidation that had been growing, unknown, in his body gave way to panic, and, without wasting another second, Naruto nearly tore the door of it's hinges when he thrust it open.

The first thing Naruto noticed was Tsukiko sitting at her desk, a forlorn look on her face. She was alone, the sunlight falling through the windows to her side. A breeze ran through the room from one of the open windows, gently ruffling her long green hair. As he watched, she brought a hand up and pushed some hair behind her ear, the move causing her eyes turn slightly in his direction where she seemed to notice him.

When Naruto had thrust the classroom door open, he had been in a panicked mindstate, his brain working well over what it was used to, but seeing her sitting there, the sunlight giving her an ethereal glow from his position, had caused emotions so raw to swell in his chest he had problems breathing. When her eye landed on his, the mass of emotion had been washed away by the immense relief that he felt.

As if being controlled by a ameture puppeteer, Naruto stumbled foreward, around the desks until he stood in front of Tsukiko. He felt oddly numb, standing in front the woman, who slowly stood when he stopped an arm's length away. They stood stock still in front of each other for a second, before a tear fell from Tsukiko uncovered eye. Unbidden, Naruto's hand reached out, and caressed her cheek, his thumb gently wiping the tear away.

"Naruto…" Tsukiko started hesitantly, her voice soft and raw. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something else, but stopped. Her eye never left his face, visibly watery. It said more than she probably could have at that point. He saw her fear, her relief, her doubt, her fragility.

Finding the will to give her a small smile, Naruto pulled her into a tight hug; a hand behind her neck, and his other arm wrapped around her waist. He felt her stiffen and what little space there was before disappeared when she lunged at him, burying her head into his chest. She shuddered again, then again, and again until he realized she was silently crying. With nothing else to do, he just held her tighter, and he felt her fists grab the back of his blazer.

Time passed before she calmed down enough to pull back from their embrace, though she tugged his arm, pulling him to the table at the front of the room. She sat down, still pulling him along, before practically molding herself to his side, her arms wrapping around his, and her head laying on his shoulder.

Her sudden physical intimacy made him slightly confused. He didn't receive any physical affection until recently, and only from Tsukiko, but it was usually it was like yesterday; small, and short contact with her hand. Still, because he hadn't received any physical affection, he relished in the feel of her body next to him. A weird sensation flickered in his chest, but he pushed it away, instead choosing to gently pull his arm out of her grasp, before sliding it around her waist and pulling her closer. It was an action purely based off instinct, and he was momentarily scared that he had crossed a line. But his fears were unfounded, as Tsukiko sighed pleasantly, somehow becoming closer to him.

"Naruto," Tsukiko said ending the silence of the room. Her voice no longer sounded so emotion riddled. "What… happened last night?"

Naruto stayed silent, unsure himself what had happened himself. Everything could have just been his imagination, but that didn't explain his bloody school clothes that he left at home, or even the weird energy- chakra if his intuition was to be believed- or even the fact that that Tsukiko was asking him. That was really the reason he had thrown away the idea that it was his imagination. He could've helped someone on the way home and gotten the bloodstains on his uniform. And this chakra was so closely connected to his body, he could just tell himself he wasn't totally healthy and leave it at that… that is if he didn't actively seek out the energy like earlier.

But the fact that Tsukiko was asking, just proved that he wasn't the only one who had witnessed the strange occurrence, not to mention if he was to try and tell Tsukiko otherwise, it would just make her look crazy.

And that's with leaving out the fact that he knew this energy inside of him was called chakra.

"I'm… not really sure," he said, gazing out the window. "It all happened so fast, I can barely remember anything. One second you were right behind me, I unlocked the building door, and the next second you were gone."

Tsukiko noded, her head still resting against his shoulder. "I only remember flashes. Someone… something grabbed me, and… then I was in so much pain…" She started shaking again, so Naruto gave her waist a squeeze to comfort her. "Then you were there," she continued her voice thick again, "And you said something, and- and that's all I remember. The next thing I know I'm waking up in my bed."

Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "I remember running and finding you in the alley, then… their was this tightening- no, pain- in my chest… Then white and gold… and... a forest." He remembered the forest (Kami that sounded cheesy to him), and the malevolent aura that washed over him like a river as well as blanketing him, as if to protect. He certainly felt safe, when he remembered it.

"Ne, Tsukiko," he called, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. She hummed against his chest. He took that as she was listening. "Do you feel any different?" She was obviously startled by the question, as she stiffened in his arm again and pulled back to look at him analytically with her single visible eye.

She slowly nodded. "I had a really hard time getting up this morning and doing anything. I felt really sick, and whenever I stepped into the sun…" she trailed off, but Naruto saw her face contort sourly, before her eye refocused on him. "Not only that, but my back feels sore. Why do you ask? Do you feel different too?"

Naruto nodded. "I don't want to go into detail here," he said. "How about we go to my apartment and I'll tell you about it." Tsukiko nodded and got up finally stepping away from Naruto. He watched as she went to her desk grabbed her purse and phone from one of her drawers. Before she turned back to Naruto with a smile.

"Let's go, Naruto-kun." She turned toward the door, before Naruto impulsively called her name.

"Tsukiko-chan!" he said, getting her to stop not to far from him and look at him curiously. Naruto himself was kind of surprised, as he didn't know what he was going to say. Seeing her open her mouth to say something Naruto decided to follow his instincts. "I love your hair!"

"... Huh?"

"Last night," he said looking away, suddenly bashful, "I don't know what I said or what I did, or if I did anything at all but… if you were going to die, I guess I'd want to tell you that I really lo-like your hair."

He looked out the window waiting for Tsukiko to say something, but everything was silent. After about ten seconds Naruto, was about to say something again when he felt something slam against his head. Clutching his now throbbing head, Naruto gazed teary eyed at his teacher. She stood before him, her infamous clipboard in her hand (he still didn't know where she kept it), a large blush on her cheeks.

"Baka," she said, her eye averted, "don't call your teacher 'chan'..."

It took them half an hour to get from the school to his house. He had managed to hide the bloody clothing that he had left out. The apartment was clean, thankfully, and currently both Naruto and Tsukiko were seated in his living room, steaming tea in front of them.

"So what do you want to tell me about?' Tsukiko asked taking a sip of her tea. "This is good," she praised.

"Thanks," Naruto said, before starting off slowly, "I've been feeling a little off today also, but nothing that you have been feeling. I feel like I have this weird… energy within me." Seeing Tsukiko raise an eyebrow, he elaborated. "I was late for school today, but I nearly made it to third hour on time because I ran the whole way to school. At first I didn't realize it, but I had been moving much faster than what I could have ever done before. Not only that, whenever I focus on the energy I feel even more energetic. Or when I think about it, I automatically know that it's called chakra.?"

"Like that stuff that buddhist use?"

He shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Right before your class I had this weird…" He was going to say encounter and tell her about his encounter with the Student Council President, but for some unknown reason he refrained. "... feeling." Tsukiko raised her eyebrow, obviously catching onto his verbal falter, but didn't say anything to which he was grateful, and ashamed at the same time. "I went into the woods, and basically meditated to see what was wrong and I apparently was sitting there for a while, because the next thing I know the school bell is ringing. And that's not even counting lunch. I ran headlong into a tree and it broke."

Tsukiko's face morphed from intrigued to doubtful. Seeing this Naruto sighed, leaned over to the couch that she was sitting on, grasping the bottom of it with one hand Naruto lifted it several feet in the air.

Tsukiko let out a 'eep.' "Naruto! Put me down!"

Despite the situation, Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. At the beginning of the day he had been a mess, his thoughts as roundabout as a politician's speech, now here he was talking to Tsukiko about the weird power in his body while lifting her up in the air with one hand while she sat on a couch.

Just a typical friday.

He gently lowered his teacher to the ground, when a thought hit him. How the hell had he know that he could lift her along with the couch one handed. Tsukiko must have seen his startled revelation on his face because she didn't even scold only raising an eyebrow elegantly.

"What is it Naruto," she asked.

"I- I didn't even know I could do that," he breathed.

"What!?" she asked, her voice loud and high. "Why would you do that then!? You could have hurt yourself, or worse, me!"

Naruto barely registered anything after her question. "It was on instinct…" he trailed off before suddenly standing up. Instinct.

"What Naruto? What is it?"

"I think that I might be able to find out more things if I follow my instincts." Tsukiko didn't say anything, just looking at him expectantly. Standing still for a second, Naruto raised his hands. Keeping his fore and middle finger straight and stiff, he curled the rest of his fingers, making a cross with the protruding fingers on his hands. " **Kage Bushin no Jutsu!** "

Suddenly to his left a puff of white smoke appeared. When it dissipated, both Naruto and Tsukiko were left dumbfounded.

Standing next to Naruto, was another Naruto.

To the guys credit he looked just as shocked as Naruto, err, the original Naruto. He was a perfect replica, down to the whisker marks, eyes, and even his hair was pulled out of his customary ponytail just like the others.

"Boss?" the new blond asked, but Naruto could only stare in shock. Did his whisker marks really look that pronounced?

Suddenly Tsukiko was next to the Naruto-double, poking, prodding, even jabbing him in the side, all the while ignoring the blonds indignant squakes.

"Wooow," she said , pulling on the double's ear. "He is actually physically here. He has the exact same look, sound, even feel to him," she said now pulling on the double's hair.

"Ow. Stop tha- hey! Don't - Really sto- OWCH! Boss! Get he-" The blond doppleganger suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke, and Naruto couldn't help but wince at the feel of Tsukiko jabbing him hard between the ribs.

"Tsukiko," he groaned. "That hurt."

Tsukiko looked at him from where she was next to the dissipating smoke. "You felt that?"

"Of course I felt that!" he said hotly. "I'd be hard pressed _not I_ to feel someone jab their fingers between my-" He suddenly stopped. The pain wasn't there. His side fine, as did his head, and ear, and nose, and eyes… Tsukiko really did a number on him. Despite remembering the feeling of all the things that Tsukiko did to him, he didn't feel the pain. In fact he felt just fine, his head was a little cluttered, as seeing yourself from someone else's eyes was really unnerving.

Naruto blinked. "Tsukiko-chan," he said. "I think I just got my clones memories."

Tsukiko looked at him with wide eyes. "You can make solid copies of yourself and even get their memories when they, uh, dispel?" Naruto nodded hesitantly, oddly not feeling really shocked. "Cool, what else can you do?"

Naruto chuckled. He had just made a physical copy of himself, gained its memories, and upon telling his teacher, who had just witnessed everything, she just went with it. He idly wondered if there was something wrong with her. Shaking his head, Naruto focused again, before he held his right hand up, palm facing the ceiling, and concentrated. Amazingly, a ball of blue appeared in his hand, spinning this way and that.

Naruto was mesmerized… or at least he was until something went wrong and the thing exploded.

The blond yelped as he was thrown back onto the couch, his hand throbbing slightly. Slowly sitting up, Naruto cradled his arm, before a green blur appeared next to him.

"Naruto-kun! Are you okay? Are you hurt? How's your hand? What happened? What was that? Do you know how worried I was?" Her questions came out hard and fast each word hitting him like a bullet. "Don't just sit there! Let me see your hand!" She didn't even wait for him to give his consent, instead just grabbing his hand, and holding it for her to look at, and what she and Naruto saw left them both dumbfounded.

Right before their eyes the abused red skin of his palm was healing. Skin that had been raw moments before was being covered by pale unblemished skin.

"N-Naruto," Tsukiko managed to get out, "am I… am I seeing this right?"

"I- I think so," he said, honestly not totally believing what he was seeing. They continued watching his hand, the skin seemingly to grow from the base of his hand and the tips of his fingers and meeting up somewhere on his palm. It took almost a whole minute for the wound to totally fade, and throughout the whole process, Naruto barely felt the pain of the wound.

He stared at his hand, flabbergasted. Had he really just get the skin on his hand shredded off, only for it to regrow back in under two minutes? How the hell was that possible? Why was it possible for him? Was this connected to his new power, this chakra? Naruto nearly groaned aloud. This was too much go deal with in one day, and trying to figure it out in that same amount of time would only serve to give him grey hair and headaches, not necessarily in that order.

"Naruto," Tsukiko said, getting his attention. "Can you stand up?"

"Huh?" He turned to her and tilted his head to the side. "Why?"

"Please do it."

Looking at her for a second longer, Naruto did as requested, watching as his teacher flopped down on his couch, her face falling onto the only pillow on the furniture. Seeing her totally let herself free around him, reminded him of just how young she was, and how much she had done for him. Even if she didn't know it, or didn't want to acknowledge it, she had saved him, and was currently the only thing he cared about in the world. To him his life wasn't worth even a single hair on her head, and seeing her so exhausted reminded him how little he did for her.

Smiling at the idea that came to mind, Naruto knelt down next to the couch and set his hand onto her shoulders.

"Naruto?" Tsukiko asked. "What are you- ahh," she moaned as his thumbs started pressing lightly into her shoulder. "Na-Naruto?"

"You said your back was sore right? Let me give you a massage." Tsukiko tried to say 'no', turning around to face him, but Naruto pressed his thumbs slightly harder into her muscles She moaned again. "Ahh… 'kay…"

Naruto smirked when she let her head fall back onto the pillow. He slowly made his way down her back, pressing his fingers firmly into her muscles, and using his position to press onto her spine where it let out several pops. Tsukiko moaned again. As he was nearing the end, Naruto felt her muscles start contracting again. Setting out to loosen them again, he could only frown when he felt her back tense more.

"Tsukiko," he said, "I need you to relax or I won't be able to do this correctly."

"I-I'm trying," she said. "My back started hurting again when I try."

Naruto moved his hands from her sides onto her lower back, using his thumbs to rub away a knot above her butt. He felt her whole body start to relax, her body starting to sag. "Good job, Tsukiko," he said, his voice low and soothing. "Just a little bit more." He pushed a little harder on her lower back, and she groand…

As black batlike wings sprang from between her shoulder blades.

Tsukiko let out a pleasent sigh, her body totally sagging against the couch, though Naruto didn't notice as he was staring at the spontaneous phenomenon wide-eyed.

' _I… I didn't do that… did I?'_

"Naruto," Tsukiko said, something Naruto barely recognized, "Why'd you stop?" Naruto opened his opened his mouth, closed it; opened it again, then closed it. "Is the shirt in the way? Here, it's kinda stuffy anyway." Without even opening her eyes or turning, Tsukiko reached back, and pulled up the bottom of her grey vest and the white shirt tucked out of her skirt, creamy pale skin being being exposed to Naruto, though he barely registered it because as soon as she had lifted her shirts two inches up her back, a tail sprang out.

It was thin and black with a heart-shaped tip. It jabbed straight out as soon as it was freed, standing straight up, ridged and stiff. It reminded Naruto of a cat stretching. As he watched, it relaxed and waved lazily in the air, and Naruto's eyes followed it with the intensity of a hungry jaguar, his brain having stopped processing anything.

Now, Naruto considered himself to be a pretty adaptable guy, he'd had dealt with, waking up with some weird energy in his body, ran through the city faster than some cars could in traffic, and even survived jumping headlong into a tree; he'd even gotten over the fact that this city had a totally of zero acceptable ramen shops. But all of that (sans the last one) coupled with the fact that his teacher was laying on his couch, her shirt pulled up exposing her midriff, with wings and a _tail_ …

Yeah, it was a perfect opportunity for his brain to take a break.

Naruto's hand reached out, and grasped the waving bodily extension, drawing a surprised gasp from Tsukiko. It was warm, surprisingly, and soft. It wrapped around his arm, and squeezed slightly as if clutching to him.

"N-Naruto," Tsukiko gasped, getting him to look at her. She was facing the other way, but something told him that her eyes were closed. He could see the flush on her neck. "N-not now… I mean… a-a-at least close th-the blinds…"

Despite having his brain shut down, Naruto still raised a curious eyebrow at what she was saying. Metaphorically throwing what she said over his shoulder, Naruto reached out with his free hand and touched the heart shaped head of the tail.

Tsukiko, gave out a loud gasp, her body, tail included, went regid. Curious, Naruto grasped it gently, getting another gasp from the green haired woman, and gently rubbed his thumb over it.

"Na-Naruto," Tsukiko said through her gasping breaths. "Don-don't... sto-Ohhh!" Her body went ramrod straight, the tail wrapped around his forearm tightening to an almost painful grip for several long seconds. "Ugh~" Tsukiko groaned, her body once again flopping listlessly onto the couch. She was panting but grinning, a large blush on her cheeks when she turned to him.

"Naruto," she said, her green ey landing on him. She opened her mouth again to say something, but her eyes fell upon his arm, the tail still clutching onto him. "Uh?" her eyes traveled along the tail, until they landed on her lower back where the tail sprouted seamlessly from her body. "Huh!?"

Then, rather belatedly in Naruto's opinion, her green eye focused on two large wings sprouting out of her before widening.

…

…

"KYAAAAA!"

Rias blew a crimson strand of hair out of her eyes, where it promptly fell back to where it was before. It was expected, as she had taken a rushed shower, hardly even taking the time to dry her hair. It wasn't that late, almost four, but she had been awake early that morning to go over the last of a project that was due that day, not to mention some of the club's activities had bled over into the morning. She had been hoping to get some early shut eye today, as club activities had been kept short that afternoon.

She had been sorely disappointed when she had been shaken awake not even five minutes after she had laid down by Grayfia.

As if called by her thoughts, the maid entered through the door or the Occult Research Club room. It was a large open room, its walls covered with bookshelves, the only furniture being the a couple sofas, a coffee table at their center, and the desk that she was currently sitting in. The room was perfectly lit, for a devil at least. To anyone else it was dim, the light being several burning candles around the room leaving several pockets of the room enshrouded in darkness, though a devil could still see through complete darkness.

"Rias-sama," Grayfia say as she stepped through the door. Her voice was stale, like it always was whenever she was in what Rias privately called, 'Maid-mode.' She was an extremely beautiful woman, with silver hair with eyes of the same color. Her hair fell to her waist in two large braids, two smaller ones framing her face and ending around her breasts, a bonnet at the top of her head. She wore a blue and white french maid outfit, a frilly white band with a blue band at it's center wrapped around her wrists.

She was one of the most beautiful woman that Rias had ever seen, holding herself with grace and poise that is expected of a noble woman. And she technically was, having been born from the Lucifuge family, but for some weird reason she prefered to play the part of a maid of the Gremory house. She was also her brother's [Queen], and was as strong as was expected of someone holding that position under the Underworld's strongest Maou.

Grayfia elegantly swept through the room, until she stood to Rias' right, behind her was the redhead's own queen, Himejima Akeno. She had black hair that fell to ankles that was held back by an orange headband with two strands sticking up, but falling backwards. She was Rias' oldest and closest friend, so she new that her eyes were violet even though they were closed to the point of not being able to see them. It was because of exhaustion, as Rias had seen that look whenever her queen was tired. Like Rias and Koneko, Akeno wore the school uniform, with her hands clasped elegantly in front of her. Much like Grayfia, she glided through the room until she stood to the right and slightly behind her.

Koneko and Kiba stood in front of her, their own exhaustion evident on their faces.

Koneko was the youngest one, being a first year at Kuoh Academy. She had short white hair, different from Grayfia's silver, that was cropped so that only two bangs on the side of her face fell past her shoulders, albeit barely. She had forgone putting in her cat-ear hair clips, and her uniform was ruffled slightly, one button jumping up one slot in her shirt. Her hazel eyes gazed at Rias almost blankly, as if she was sleeping standing up and with her eyes open. If she was or not, Rias didn't know, but she decided to let it go because she felt the same way.

Out of all the students, because Grayfia always was ready, Kiba looked the most composed. His uniform was impeccable clean, creased, and unruffled. He had a small smile on his face, the mole under his left eye slightly higher than normal. In fact the only reason Rias could tell was the slight glazzy quality of his eyes, and the several jostled hairs that stuck up on his scalp out of his normally perfectly tame hair. The fact that Rias could see 'The Prince' of Kuoh caught off balance caused her to smile slightly.

Rias closed her eyes momentarily wishing that she could get some rest, but when she opened her eyes, she felt a rush of warmth flood through her, seeing her servants around her. She didn't really want to tell them this now, and would have waited if it wasn't urgent, or at least to her brother. But here they all were, standing around her at this un-maou-ly hour in the day,to those that had been up all night, and none of them have raised a complaint. She smiled at them all, trying to convey her love for them with the gesture.

"Thank you for coming at this time," she said, getting her peerage's attention. "I know you are all tired, but I must inform you all of an order that has been given out to us as well as Sona's peerage. I'm sure that you all remember the weird energy that happened last night." Now fully awake, Kiba and Koneko nodded. "And I told you all today that we were not to investigate unless we have express permission.

"We have been given just that." Koneko's eyes widened, and Rias heard Akeno give a light 'Ara.' "We have been tasked to investigate any situation that involves the strange energy, but _only_ within the city limits. Even if it's a foot outside the city, we are not to engage with it, and even in they are within our sphere of influence, please do not engage in any form of interaction with the one responsible, report to me as soon as possible."

Koneko raised a hand as if she was in class. "Why?" she asked, her voice her usual monotone.

Rias couldn't help but smirk at the white haired girl. Even if she had a hard time expressing emotion, she was still just too damn cute for her own good. But as soon as the smile came, it vanished. "Because," Rias said, "The signature was able to be recorded even in the Underworld." That got Kiba to straighten up a little, while Akeno, Rias knew, was clasping her hands hard. Koneko on the other hand, was unfazed by the fact that an energy signature, a signature that she had told Rias she suspected was chakra, was strong and large enough to be read from the Underworld, a whole dimension away. Was Konneko even slightly unsettled by the information? Nope, she just nodded.

Good old Koneko.

"That is one of the thing that I wanted to tell you all, but I also want to express that I want you all to be carefull. Grayfia will be staying her to make sure that whatever it was that gave off that signature isn't something that is too big for us to handle." Rias smiled again, letting her eyes land on Kiba, Koneko, and even Akeno, who she had to turn to see. "With that said, my family will be having a house built her in Kouh and I would like each of you to move in with me."

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Buchou?"

"Of course, Kiba," she replied. "I know that you all are used to having your own place by now, but I wanted to have everyone around me, so we have a place to meet outside of this room." She stood up. "Plus that just means that I have my cute little servants around me."

"Hai," Koneko said, her eyes half lidded again. "Is that all, Buchou?"

Rias chuckled. "Yes, Koneko, you can go to sleep now."

Koneko didn't even bother responding, she just turned to the large magic circle at the side of the room and disappeared in a flash of red light. Kiba left with a gentle wave, choosing to take the stairs and walk home.

Rias turned to her [Queen]. "Akeno, would you like to stay with me tonight?"

A fist pounded loudly on Naruto front door, straining the hinges on the door.

"Oi!" a voice called from outside the door, "Uzmeki! Open the door!"

Naruto sighed, started standing from behind the overturned table, before diving behind the table, to avoid the high heeled shoe that shot at his head. "Give me a minute!" he called back. "And my names Uzumaki! U-zu-ma-ki, Ikumi-san!"

"I don't care about your name,Uchimaki!" the person called back. "Get your sorry ass to the door and talk to me like a man, or I'll come in there and break your back over my knee, you sorry piece of cow dung!"

Naruto moved to stand again, uncaring of whether or not he got hit with a shoe. That was he heard a solid _'thunk'_ in the wood that protected his face. Really back, Naruto fell on his ass, totally exposed, something that Tsukiko capsized on.

"DIE!" she shouted, a large butcher's knife raised above head a long thin knife in her other.

"I'm sorry!" he screamed, managing to roll out of the way causing the knife to slice into the wooden floor. Tsukiko tried to yank it out but it held fast, giving Naruto the time he needed to tackle her to the floor. Grasping the hand that held the other knife tightly, Naruto squeezed tight enough so that Tsukiko was forced to let go.

"Hey!" she yelled indignantly. "Let me go!"

"Will you still try to kill me?" he asked.

"Yes."

"No."

"Die like a man!" She screamed again, violently shoving her knee toward the junction between the blond's legs, but he shifted his body to the side, letting the knee hit air. Capsizing, Naruto grasped her legs and lifted her up. Ignoring her loud 'Oi' Naruto swiftly moved over to his room, threw her on the bed, and rushed out of the room, locking it behind him.

Man was he glad that he never switched the door handle like he planned.

Quickly moving to the door, Naruto opened it slightly, and peaked his head outside so see his landlady standing in front of him, her arms folded under her impressive bust. She wore a long sleeved shirt with purple sleeves and shoulders, and a white center over black pants. The shirt read " _Unagi_ ". Her hair was black, and pulled back by a purple scrunchie, a bang falling over her nose, another on the left side of her face, and a single strand over her left eye. Her brown eyes were narrowed dangerously.

Naruto's eyes ran the length of her curvy figure, noting that he foot wasn't tapping in impatience.

That was a bad sign.

Whenever Ikumi was irritated, she tapped her finger on her arm; when she was angry; she tapped her foot on the ground. When she did neither, she was furious.

Naruto swallowed, and gave an unsure smile. "Hey, Ikumi-san," he said, "lovely day, right?"

"Indeed." Her voice was as cold as ice, causing Naruto to flinch.

"W-what can I do for a beautiful woman, on such a fine day?" he asked pleasantly.

Ikumi's eye narrowed even more. "Several things," she said, her tone the same.

"L-like?"

"Let me in."

"Can't," Naruto blurted. Ikumi raised in eyebrow. "I'm naked," he blurted. Under normal circumstances he would have been embarrassed, mortified even, but he was just trying to save his life at this point, and seeing as there was an angry woman in his bedroom, and one outside his apartment asking (demanding) to come in, his chances of survival wasn't looking that good.

Ikumi smiled a smile so horrible, so earth shatteringly evil, Naruto's knees gave out, and it was only thanks to his death grip on the door that he didn't fall. Her eyes were closed, showing pearly white teeth, and oddly bloodthirsty-looking canines that glittered in the florescent light.

"Good," she said her voice suddenly so sweet that Naruto choked just hearing it. "Just come out here then, so I can deprive me of your manhood, won't you?"

Blood drained from Naruto's body at how casually she had said that. It was like she was talking about an everyday occurrence like the sun coming up in the east, or that water is wet.

"I-I mean that I'm clothed."

"Oh," Ikumi said, her voice the same, "Then, do tell, how did you make so much noise in _my building_ , unless you were not clothed and doing lewd acts with someone else?"

"Uhh," Naruto fumbled for an answer. "Lover's spat…?"

"WE'RE NOT LOVERS!" a loud voice said from behind Naruto.

Ikumi giggled, and Naruto could have sworn he heard the sound of a whetstone on an axe in the distance. "Not only did you just admit to me that you have a woman in there, but I now have evidence that I gathered with my own ears to support such claims, Uchicheki."

"It's Uzumaki," Naruto blurted out.

"I DON'T CARE," Ikumi finally exploded. "I WAS UP TELL ALMOST TWO IN THE MORNING AND YOU'RE CAUSING ALL THIS RACKET, YOU'RE LUCKY MURDER IS A CRIME OR RIGHT NOW I'D HAVE KILLED YOUR GRANDFATHER SO YOU NEVER EXISTED!"

Naruto flinched. "I-I'm really sorry!" he said, bowing his head, so that the woman could see he was sincere. He would have gone out into the hallway and place his head on the floor, but then he'd have to show her the apartment, and if that happened he wasn't getting away with his life.

Ikumi, instead of yell at him or even hitting him, just sighed, getting Naruto to raise his head to gaze at her.

"Naruto," she said, and Naruto looked at her with his full focus. She never called him by his name, correctly at least. "I'm going to let this slide this once, but if anything, _anything_ , like this happens again, I'll be forced to kick you out on the street."

Naruto nodded furiously, relief flooding through him.

"I will expect to payed back for covering for you."

"Anything!" Naruto blurted. The woman smiled.

"I'll hold you too that." She turned around and walked down the hall.

Heaving a sigh of release, Naruto shut the door, and came face to face with the heal that was stuck into the wood, the actual shoe nearly touching the door. He shivered. If Tsukiko had hit him with that, he probably would have died. Shaking away that morbid though, Naruto walked over to his room door, but stopped short of opening it, deciding to take the safe side and knocking.

"Tsukiko," he called, and unlocked the door. "I unlocked the door," he said. "I'm sorry for what happened. I really don't understand it, but I am sorry for whatever I did to upset you." He stopped waiting for an answer.

"... Baka…"

Despite himself, Naruto smiled. "It's really late." It wasn't. "Why don't you get some sleep. I'll take the couch, and you can have the bed. We can talk in the morning, okay?"

"... Sure."

"Alright," he said, "Feel free to use any of the clothes, and if you need anything I'll be out here. If you get hungry or thirsty don't be a stranger, the fridge won't mind the late night company."

He heard Tsukiko gigging behind the door. Still smiling to himself, Naruto trekked through his apartment, rightining furniture, throwing away any broken things that had been whole before Tsukiko's rampage, before finally everything was back into place though he would have to replace the door and table, and get some supplies to fix several holes in the wall. He had just covered up the large cut in the floor with some carpet to try and hide it.

Taking off his blazer, long sleeved shirt, and the orange undershirt, Naruto flung himself onto the couch, a loud sigh leaving his mouth as his muscles relaxed. He closed his eyes submerging himself in his chakra, letting the weirdness of the day drain away. He chuckled to himself. Here he was using the weird energy that he just got that day as an escape from the weirdness of the day.

His mind drifted back to his encounter with Souna and had to suppress the feeling of self hatred that sprung up. He had practically forced himself onto a girl, one of the few things that he found unforgivable, he had almost done.

He'd have to go and apologize to her for doing that. He hadn't intended for things to go that far. He took a deep breath and nearly choked when he smelled water lilies, the same feeling that had sprang up in his chest earlier that he wasn't able to comprehend, coming up again. Swallowing at his suddenly dry throat, Naruto forced the thought away, until the smell left his nose and his chest seemed to stop boiling. As the feeling faded away, Naruto could feel drowsiness seep onto him.

' _I need to train…'_ Naruto thought, the realization totally independent to his intentional thoughts. _'Tomorrow… '_

The light of the moon shone down upon a solitary woman who stood on top of a tall skyscraper. Below her the muted glow of the street light seaming like a candle next to a fire. The woman stood on the edge of the building, her feet bare, dressed in a completely white kimono, her white hair falling onto the ground behind her.

She gazed up at the moon floating in the sky, illuminating her face to the world, her two eyes pale lavender, the third in the middle of her forehead was closed.

"Soon," she muttered, her lips pulling back into a small smile. "Soon, my love."

AN: Dun dun duuu.

There you have it, the second chapter. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm moving too fast with Tsukiko and Naruto's relationship. I was just trying to convey that they are really close throughout the chapter, and the other relationships will not be going as fast or smoothly as this one is.

So I know I kinda left the whole 'Tsukiko-with-wings-and-a-tail' thing unresolved, but I did that intentionally. It will be touched on in the next chapter, but but I wil give anyone some inside information if they can guess where I'm going with her character.

Lastly, it's going to take longer than this to update, as I will be updating and starting a couple other stories as well as starting new ones. I will be posting the same stories on AO3, but I don't know when.

Please review, and PM me with your answers to Tsukiko.

~Sempai

P.S. :I have decided that I'll give each individual pairing a song. So #1 is Naruto x Tsukiko: Dream a Little Dream of Me; by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: VigilantSempai is back again with the third chapter of **Catalyst of the Supernatural**. Before I start, though,I would like to apologize for the long wait for the chapter. Life is never easy, so I can't really use that as an excuse, but that's that. On the bright side though I was able to use the time between chapters to finalize the harem. I don't know if people want it to be a surprise or not, so comment if you want to know or not.

Speaking of comments, I'm going to take a little bit of time to rely to some from the first two chapter. 1: Yes, Naruto's landlady is Ikumi from Bleach. I don't have a real reason for putting her in there other then I needed someone to take the role of a landlady. 2: I do plan on incorporating the Narutoverse into this story, though not for a bit. and Yes we will be seeing Madara and Sasuke again. 3:An anonymous user, as well as **Darth Renatus** guessed my planes for Tsukiko; she is a succubus.

4: For people that might feel that the story might have been rushed or cliched I can only say that the second chapter was admittedly not the greatest. After reading through it again, I can see a lot of things that I would have done differently, but I still consider myself an ameture writer. despite that though, There is a reason as to why I had Naruto's childhood the way it was.

5: And to answerthat one commenter who guessed that my personal major was in the writing field, I have to disappoint you and say that you are wrong. While I do plan on getting a minor in creative writing, my major is in the air right now between biochemistry and physics.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing but the OC's and the story. I make no money from this.

* * *

The first thing he noticed was the absolute silence.

Opening his eyes slowly, Naruto made out the ceiling above him, the light of the sun illuminating the room enough for him to clearly see it. Slowly looking around his living room and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Naruto couldn't help but find the quiet of the world highly unnerving. It was as if everything was holding it's breath for something to happen. The feeling soon fled, as the sound of a car passing his apartment complex tore through the silence and, like a switch was flipped, the world erupted into noise. Birds started chirping, more cars passed his apartment building, one of his neighbors yelled something while a helicopter flew off somewhere in the distance.

Naruto sat up, idly scratching his bare chest before giving a yawn and stretching. He relaxed after several seconds, and made to get up, but noticed a piece of paper lying on the table next to him. Quirking an eyebrow, he picked it up and immediately recognized Tsukiko's elegant handwriting

 _Naruto,_

 _I know some weird things happened last night, and I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. I heard your conversation with your landlord, and I hope that I didn't cause you any problems or damages. That said, I decided that I'm going to work out my whole 'wings and tail' dilemma on my own. Not that I don't think you would be of any help, I am sure you would, but I know you have your own things to think through. Please take care of yourself, and trust your instincts. But think before you do anything, as well. I know that's an oxymoron, but try and do it, okay? I'll see you on monday!_

 _Yours_

 _Tsukiko_

Next to her name, Naruto saw that she drew a chibi Tsukiko holding up a peace sign, and he couldn't help but chuckle. Then he noticed the post script.

 _P.S. Make sure you do your homework!_

Naruto bit back a groan, realizing that he still had to finish the paper that was do in her class next monday. Deciding to do it later, Naruto stood up and made his way over to the kitchen. He took out some eggs and bread, planing on making himself some eggs and toast before he took a shower. And that's exactly what he did, and half an hour later, he stepped out of his bathroom a towel wrapped around his waist, hair pulled into a ponytail with a sated stomach.

Stepping into his room, Naruto immediately noticed the effect Tsukiko had on his room. His nose was assaulted by the smell of citrus. He noticed that the sunlight streamed through his open blinds as well as the fact that his clothes from the last couple of day was in the hamper instead of a pile next to it. His eyes roamed the room, taking in any differences that he could see, ignoring the increasingly familiar feeling bubbling in his stomach.

He quickly dressed, throwing on a black shirt and dark wash jeans. Grabbing a pair of socks and his old converse, Naruto headed back to the living room where he plopped down on the couch. Slipping on the socks and shoes, he stood again, before pausing questioning what he was doing.

He knew that he had said that he needed to train last night, but he wasn't sure what he was doing, or much less where he was suppose to do that. He bit his lower lip in thought for a second, before he just shrugged. Tsukiko had said to follow his instincts, and he decided that they were telling him to go to the woods, and preferably, seeing as he probably wouldn't want people to see him using weird powers, he'd go to the outskirts of the city to the large forest there.

With a destination in mind, Naruto spent the next five minutes trying to find his keys and phone. With both securely in his pocket, Naruto left, locking his door behind him.

It was a very nice day outside, hot but with a frequent breeze and clouds to keep people cool. He smiled when he stepped outside, before he took a left toward the nearest train station.

It took Naruto over an hour and a half to get to the outskirts of the city and fifteen minutes to find a clearing that was far enough away from people as well as large enough for him to train. Of course he was going off of intuition, so he couldn't be sure. He walked into the middle of the clearing, gazing at the trees that surrounded him, though they were small in comparison to the one he had encountered in his dreams, something that made him feel oddly disappointed.

The clearing was actually rather large, with a width wide enough for a soccer field to fit comfortably. The grass was spotted with clumps of weeds, and off to his left was an overturned tree that rested under the shade. He made his way over to it before stipping off his shirt and setting it on the bark before setting his phone and keys on top..

' _Okay, objective one: test insurance.'_

Taking a deep breath, Naruto started running around the outskirts of the clearing, deciding that five laps would be a good warm up. It took him far less time to finish then he thought it would, though it he still was winded and felt the burning in his body. Ignoring that, Naruto let his body work on autopilot as he started stretching his body. It took him less time to finish that then running the clearing, though he was suddenly hit with the desire to bend over backwards and lift himself into a handstand.

Internally shrugging, Naruto bent at the waist, letting his toros run parallel to the ground, before he raised his hands and let them land softly on the ground. Feeling sweat running freely on his skin, he gave a grunt as he pushed off lightly with his legs, tightening his core at the same time. In the end, the soles of Naruto's converse pointed toward the sky, as he held his body up with his hands.

Naruto managed to hold that position for over two minutes, before his arms started shaking, and he was forced to let his feet touch the ground again. Breathing deeply to regain his breath, Naruto closed his eyes, before letting his instincts walk him over to a tree. Hesitantly, he took a stance.

He faced the tree sidelong, his right side forward with all of his weight shifted to the balls of his feet. His left hand was held parallel to the ground, right at his bellybutton; while his right was held in front of him, his fist held just below his chin in height.

The first time his fist landed against the bark of the tree, Naruto knew he had thrown the punch wrong. Rather than just the pain in his knuckles, there was more in his wrist. Shuffling back a little, Naruto punched gain, and smirked at the sensation. It felt natural, and he could feel a sense of pride glowing in his chest.

' _One,'_ he thought before letting the same fist land on the tree again. ' _Two.'_

He did it again.

' _Three.'_

And again.

' _Four.'_

And again, and again and again, until he lost himself into the rhythm of the exercise. At some point he switched hands, then he threw hooks instead of jabs, then he started kicks. Then he switched his stance letting his left side lead. He continued, for hours, bloodying his knuckles against the rough bark, until he started leaving smears of blood, only then did he start using his elbows, and his knees. Throughout it all, Naruto took it slow, making sure that every punch he threw was correct, that the way he twisted his body was right, that the way his muscles coiled when he leaned in to use his elbow felt natural.

With one final punch, Naruto stepped back, suddenly aware of the fatigue in his body, Naruto made his way back to the fallen tree and all but collapsed against it. Sinking to the ground, he rested his back and head against the bark, not even bothered by the rough bark. Reaching up blindly, Naruto clutched for his phone, taking note of the sunlight still streaming through the gap in the trees.

Feeling his hand wrap around the smooth surface of his phone, he brought it in front of him, and turned it on.

2:56

Sighing to himself, Naruto set his phone back where it was, before he noticed the state that his hands were in. The top layers of skin were gone and blood leaked from the wounds. His forearms weren't any better. Suddenly, he was set upon by an intense bout of stinging pain from his hands, forearms, and shins from the sweat that dripped from his body into the open flesh. Hissing, he glanced at his legs, noticing the fact that he had worn several small holes into his pants over the course of the day.

Letting out a sigh, Naruto reached out, wincing as he felt the fresh wounds become aggravated slightly, Naruto fingered a hole, figuring he could still use the jeans but not again for training. Tomorrow, he'd come with basketball shorts, and a towel. And gauze.

A lot of gauze.

And music.

Heaving himself to his feet, Naruto moved to the center of the clearing again. He didn't plan on leaving for another three, maybe four hours, so he might as well experiment with his new mysterious power. Putting his hands into a familiar feeling cross shaped pattern, Naruto felt his chakra react to it in a weird way that he hadn't felt last time.

" **Kage Bushin no Jutsu!** " he called, and a large puff of smoke filled the clearing, and as soon as it cleared, Naruto could only nod his head in appreciation. He stood in the center of some fifty odd clones of himself, all equally shirtless and bloodied. When he saw all of them looking at him expectantly, Naruto was tempted to have them all fight each other in pairs of two, but realized he couldn't get to do anything, so he paused.

After a couple seconds of thinking, Naruto told them all to move to surround him and another clone. They all hesitated for a second before complying. Nodding to himself, Naruto glanced around making sure he had clones that were looking at him from all angles before he raised his fists into the same position that that he had been practicing in.

If he was correct in remembering that he got all the clones memories, then that means that when he was finished, he'd have a three-hundred-sixty degree view of the spars that he plans on having.

"Okay," Naruto said to the clone of himself across from...him. Shaking off the creepiness of it, he continued. "We are going to spar, but I want you to take a different stance than the one I was using earlier. Got it?" Seeing the clone nod, Naruto thrust his hand out to the side randomly, pointing at a startled clone. "You're going to be the one to call start, got it?"

"Sure, boss," the clone smiled.

"Okay," Naruto said rolling his shoulders a little, before falling into his stance. "Whenever you're ready." The clone across from him nodded and dropped into a stance.

Unlike Naruto's aggressive stance, the clone's was much more passive. He crouched his feet shoulder width apart, his left foot leading was also pointed toward him, while the right foot was pointed to the side. The clone faced him sidelong, his left arm held out in front of him, his elbow only slightly bent while his right hand rested about a foot ahead of his chest. Both were held at chest height, while he didn't close his hands into fists, instead both hands were open, their fingers slightly curled.

Refusing to be put off by the weird stance, Naruto tensed his muscles, the adrenalin pumping through his body. There was a tense silence, before Naruto saw the clone off to the side raise his hand stalling for a second.

The hand dropped.

"Hijame!"

Naruto shot forward, closing the several meter gap between him and his clone in a second. He telegraphed a left straight towards the clone's head, making it shuffle back causing Naruto to smirk. Using the same motion Naruto unleashed a left kick, his foot slicing through the air. Naruto's foot connected, but only to the clones hastily thrown up block.

Before Naruto could do anything else, the clone grabbed his foot and yanked Naruto foreward who yelped and hopped toward the clone, only to receive a palm stick to his stomach that took the air out of his stomach. Naruto's back landed in the dirt, gasping for air, before he quickly rolled to the side to avoid having his chest caved in by the clones foot.

Before he could scramble to his feet, Naruto was forced to once again to roll away as the clones fist landed where his head had once been. Growling in anger, Naruto made a show of trying to stand up, leaving his right side open for the clone. It is to be noted that Naruto's clones react the same way he would, or so he believed, so when he saw the clone take the obvious bait he could only hope he wasn't as stupid as that.

Letting the clone get close, Naruto kept himself open until the clones kick was about to hit, before he suddenly twisted, letting the foot pass his chest. He grasped the leg, and threw his weight into toppling the clone over, where it landed on it's back with an 'Omf!'

Not waiting for the clone to react, Naruto readjusted his hold on the clones leg quickly, one hand on it's ankle the other on it's knee, he yanked yanked up letting his weight fall onto the middle of the clone's femur which snapped.

The clone managed to give a strangled cry, before dispelling the action causing Naruto to wince slightly. While he didn't feel the pain, the memory of having your leg snapped by yourself was still kind of unnerving. Standing up, Naruto pointed to another clone, slightly winded.

"You're next."

This time the clone took a similar stance to his, but started hopping from foot to foot like a boxer. This time when Naruto beat the clone (with a well timed punch to the face) he got the memory of himself beating that clone and the one before it. Quickly realizing that if he took time to analyze each clone's memory after each fight that it would progressively take too much time to keep up, he decided that he'd sift through them later.

He pointed at another one.

"You're next."

* * *

It was nearly ten at night, when Naruto stumbled into his apartment. He looked worse for were, covered in bruises and small nicks, and there was even that cut on his cheek where one clones nails had caught.

Stumbling over to his table, Naruto set his bag down, before continuing on toward his bedroom, where he left his towel before doubling back to disappear into the bathroom. Half an hour later, he reemerged a towel securely wrapped around his waist and water dripping from his limp hair. He went to his bedroom and put on new boxers and some sweatpants. Clothed for the night, Naruto went back into the his living room, before sitting down on the couch resisting the urge to go to sleep right there.

Opening the plastic bag, Naruto took out some antibiotic cream and a large bandage, both of which he placed one of his elbows, where the wounds were healing but would still take some time to heal. Doing the same to his other elbow, Naruto then applied the antibiotic to the cut on his cheek, before putting a small bandaid on it. Done with everything else, Naruto then put some cream on his left forearm and knuckles, before wrapping both in gauze followed by tape.

Naruto bit back a cuckle, realizing that it had been a while since he had had to do some first aid on himself.

It took him a little longer to do his right hand, but it was done just as well as his left, before he moved to his legs.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Naruto put all the first aid back into the plastic bag before he brought it to his room, where he dumped it into a duffle bag, which was quickly followed by a two clean towels, several pairs of basketball shorts and t-shirts. Taking the partially full bag into the living room, Naruto left it on a chair before heading to the kitchen. Fixing himself a diner of fish and rice, Naruto had enough mental function left to take some granola bars that he had and stuff them in the bag. His preparations for tomorrow finished, Naruto sat down and ate, shifting through his clone's memories as he did.

* * *

Naruto raised a taped fist and used it to cover his mouth as he yawned. Early that morning he had decided that even though his wounds were disappearing by the time that he had gotten up as well as any fatigue, he didn't want to risk messing his arms up again and so wrapped his arms in gauze and tape like he was going to workout at the had a really long night last night, having been up until the early morning finishing his neglected homework. The thought of the time consuming paper that he had just finished not four hour prior brought a feeling of weariness. Before that, though, Naruto had been in a great mood after his training took a surprise turn.

After being thrown at a tree during one of his final bout with his clones, Naruto had instinctively shifted his body in midair channeling chakra to the soles of his feet before they landed on the surface of tree. Naruto hadn't noticed it at first, only looking at the clone across from him angrily before he realized that he was sticking to the side of a tree.

He promptly fell off.

After, Naruto had swarmed the forest with more clones, ordering them to try walking up the tree. After a couple of attempts himself, Naruto realized that if he didn't use enough chakra he'd fall off the tree, and using too much would launch him off of it, therefore he was to find the medium between the two. With the help of his clones Naruto had gotten the exercise down before he left the clearing, though he noticed that he was more tired than if he had just worked his body out.

It was after a nice shower and dinner at about midnight, when he was laying in bed, that Naruto realized he still had to do his paper for Tsukiko-sensei. So two and a half hours after, Naruto finally managed to go to sleep, paper done, and ready to be printed.

So now here he was, walking to school tired and slightly irritated, but that changed when Naruto saw Hyoudou Issei looking like Naruto felt. His brown hair was messier than usual and his blazer for his uniform was inside out. The boy was scowling, his lips turned down wards, and every so often he glanced at the sun, his face becoming darker.

Naruto's lips quirked up and he suddenly felt slightly better, before a voice shattered Naruto's newfound amusement.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Kaicho has requested your presence."

Slowly turning around, the blond found himself face to face with Shinra Tsubaki. The bespectacled young woman, was slightly shorter than himself, though her natural impassive (read: resting-bitch) face gave whoever she was looking at the impression that she was looking down her nose at them. Her impassive stare was augmented with the fact that her eyes were two different colors; her left being violet and her right a nice light brown. In spite of her rather impassive and imposing stature, being one of the smartest in the whole school as well as the vice-president of the Student Council and one of the best looking girls in the school, she was actually rather kind if serious and straight laced, not to mention she had a rather beautiful smile. Much like Akeno, One of the two Great Onee-Sama's of Kuoh Academy, Tsubaki's black hair fell well past her back, stopping at her knees, though she let it fall freely instead of holding it in a ponytail.

As a consequence of having been sent to the student council president so many times, Naruto had been able to form a sort-of friendly acquaintanceship with the entirety of the Student Council, with the exception of the new guy. Looking at Tsubaki right now, he could tell that the reason for him being called to Souna was much more serious than a simple prank. Just the thought of Souna brought a sense of forbidding to Naruto. He had a really good idea as to why she was calling for him, and the fact that he hadn't had an opportunity to pull a prank as a distraction made the matter worse. Now Souna would have her full attention on the fact that he'd stolen her first kiss, most likely, as well as for the fact that it could be considered sexual harassment.

Naruto's eyes flickered around the courtyard trying valiantly to find an out for his situation, at least to postpone his impending meeting with Souna. Suddenly his ear twitched as he heard what the other students in the courtyard were saying.

"Do you see that?"

"Why's Shinra-san talking to him?"

"Do you think he pulled a prank again?"

"He's never been caught before, but if she's talking to him-"

"You think it finally happened?"

"That bastard. Taking all the beautiful girls and oppai."

That last comment caused Naruto's eyes to narrow, and he turned his gaze away from Tsubaki and glared at the speaker, Issei. He stood on the opposite side of the fountain, a good ways away from the blond. Seeing Naruto's blue eyes lock on his brown one's with a glare, Issei started, his earlier fatigue suddenly gone.

"D-did he hear me?" Issei asked himself. Naruto slowly nodded his head, before raising a single hand, he clenched it into a fist and drew his thumb across his neck. Issei just about crapped himself before he turned and fled the courtyard.

He watched the fleeing boy disappear into the school building, a sense of satisfaction warming his body in a similar way to his chakra. He liked the guy, he actually did, but the fact that he had tried to associate Naruto with his perverted tendencies called for retribution in the future. He shrugged, he'd prank the guy later. The sound of someone clearing their throat nearby reminded Naruto of his current position.

"As I said," Tsubaki said looking at him intently, "Kaicho wants you to come to come to her office, but only after school." Letting out a sigh of relief, Naruto nodded meeting Tsubaki's gaze evenly.

"Gotcha," he said, before giving the girl a grin. "How are you this fine morning?"

The vice president stared at Naruto for several long moments before turning away. "Fine," she said, "Get to your class, Uzumaki Naruto. And make sure you are at Kaicho's office no more than ten minutes after classes end." Without giving him another glance, she started walking away. Naruto stared after the girl and frowned, only slightly curious about her rather cold dismissal. He had a pretty good guess for that, and couldn't fault her for how she was acting to him. No, what really caused him to frown, was how the girl 'felt'.

She 'felt' dark, something he hadn't noticed beforehand. No dark didn't really accurately describe how she 'felt', a better word would have been colder, like her presence was pulling the metaphorical heat from the air except that it wasn't actually doing that. It was subtle, but entirely different from the next person that passed him as he stood in the school's entrance.

Frowning, Naruto tried to place where he remembered feeling a similar feeling before, before he was jostled out of the way, rather rudely, by a passing student. Quickly posting the guy's face on his 'shit list' in his mind, Naruto huffed and readjusted the bag in his grip before heading into the school.

* * *

School passed rather quickly, too quickly for Naruto's liking. If he was being honest with himself, the only reason he was complaining was because he didn't want to have to deal with Souna. He'd normally feel ecstatic that the day had gone as quickly as it did.

His day was actually rather productive, if he was honest with himself. After only giving his teachers (sans Tsukiko, of course) the barest amount of attention in the beginning of class, Naruto had set out to get a 'feel' of all the student's in his classes. He's established what he called a normal, based on the fact the most of the kids and teachers had a similar 'feel', though he did note that all the Student Council had a similar 'feel' to Tsubaki. Surprisingly enough, Naruto found out that Issei and another boy in his grade, Kiba Yuuto, had a similar feeling as well, there was a notable difference. What it was, Naruto didn't know.

He had spent most of his class focusing on figuring out what this new understanding of people meant. How long had he had it? Sense he was a kid? If he did why didn't he know it yet? Odds were that it was somehow connected the weird night he had and his chakra. Thinking of the mystical energy had just brought up more questions. How had he known its name? Moreover how was he seemingly able to use it instinctively? Was it chakra that he was sensing in people or something else? And why had Tsubaki had a different feel than Kiba and Issei? Why did they have a different feel, period?

He'd even tried feeling Tsukiko when he was in her class, and wasn't really surprised that he felt a similar feeling that he had when he looked at Tsubaki and the others. Did that mean that they were the same as her? Tail and all? Did they have powers like him?

Furthermore when he had 'felt' some of the students that fit in the 'regular' category in his mind, he realized that some he was able to 'feel' easier than others, such as the the Kendo Club members. This brought up more questions, that Naruto refused to even acknowledge. He had enough to contemplate as of right now.

The only time that he had taken away from the large puzzle had been at lunch when he had pranked Issei and the unnamed guy, a third year. Nothing really bad, at least for Issei, he'd gotten off lightly with the words 'Oppai Lover' written on his chest and a bucket of water dropped on his head. The other guy, though, would be found by the next gym class, hanging upside down in only his briefs. With his work done, Naruto had spent the rest of his time coming up with a plan to make it out of his meeting alive.

After the last bell had rang, Naruto had only taken a second to say hi to Tsukiko (though throughout the whole time he had tried to make conversation she refused to meet his eye or make more than a one syllable response) before he left to confront his doom, or, worse yet, a possibly angry Souna. The hallways were rather packed as all the students were still in the process of leaving, so rather than the three minutes it would normally take him to get there it took seven.

He knocked on the door, ignoring the sense of forbidding that started creeping up on him. There was a couple moments of stillness, before the door opened to reveal Tsubaki, her face impassive as always. She gazed at him, her eyes seemingly boring through him and into his soul. Still, though, Naruto didn't back away, instead choosing to giver her a sad and slightly awkward grin.

"Is that Uzumaki-kun?" a voice asked from inside, and Naruto couldn't help but grimace slightly. Just the sound of her voice filled him with a sense of regret and self-loathing. Naruto broke eye contact, looking down and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yes, Kaicho," Tsubaki replied, and Naruto thought he could hear a small amount of contempt in her voice.

"Send him in."

Naruto felt Tsubaki's gaze leave him and she moved out of the way for him to enter. The Student Council's room was, like always, impressively clean. There were several small tables spread out throughout the room and a covered window that rested on the wall behind Souna's desk, and impressive piece of furniture if he was to say. Like every other time Naruto had been sent/called here it was borderline dark, though the several lit candles throughout the room helped.

Ignoring the fact that Tsubaki's mismatched eyes were, once again, following his every move, Naruto crossed the room and took a seat in one of the two armchairs that rested before Souna's desk.

Souna herself hadn't spared him a glance, her head was bowed as she poured over several documents in front of her, taking her pin to sign or write notes on each individual paper. She didn't look up for several minutes, working diligently all the while with Naruto sitting in front of her and Tsubaki having taken a position behind her.

Naruto took his eyes away from the working class president, and let his eyes wander around the room. He knew that the Student Council actually had several converted classrooms for their exclusive use, all similar to this. Letting his eyes rove over the room a couple of times Naruto sighed, scratching the back of his head before gazing back at Souna as she finished on what he hoped would be the last paper. Souna took whatever paper she had just finished with, placed it on a stack of papers that before picking it up and holding it up over her shoulder.

"Tsubaki," she said glancing over at the girl behind her, "take these to the Occult Research Club and make sure that you give them to Rias."

"Yes, Kaicho," Tsubaki said as she took the papers and starting heading out the room. She didn't spare Naruto a glance.

"When you are finished," Souna called as she stood up and turned to the window, "feel free to take the rest of the day off."

Naruto heard Tsubaki stop walking for the briefest of seconds before she continued. "Yes, Kaicho." She left, shutting the door softly behind her; leaving Naruto and Souna alone.

The room was silent for several seconds, Souna looking out the window while Naruto fidgeted in his seat, one of his legs bouncing. The silence in the room stretched for several minutes, both occupants refusing to break it. It was when Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself that he froze, the smell of water lilies hitting his senses like a sucker punch.

He recoiled, shaking his head as if to evade the scent, but it persisted becoming stronger, the smell of paper and mint seemingly kissing his sense of smell. Something hot seemed to move within him almost like it was uncoiling. It seeped through his body, spreading like a fire on dry kindling. Naruto fought against it, trying to reign it in, before the feeling and smell vanished just as suddenly as it came, leaving him slightly sweaty and the scent of pollen in his nose.

"Uzumaki-kun." Souna's voice cut off whatever though he was going to have. He slowly focused his eyes on her back, the light streaming in through the curtains gave her a dark silhouette like she was made out of shadows. "What do you know about the supernatural?"

Naruto blinked. He had expected her to ask him about what happened last Friday, not a random question about the supernatural. He opened his mouth intent on asking what the random question was about, before he realized that it was actually a rather valid question. Four days ago, Tsukiko had almost died, probably had, and he had gotten a weird mystical power called chakra. Then, Tsukiko was revealed to have had wings ( _wings!_ ) and a tail, and he could make solid clones of himself.

Not only that, but he could sense the fact that there were others in the school that weren't exactly normal. Souna, herself, felt almost exactly like Tsubaki, though her 'feel' was… larger. Assuming that what he was feeling was a power similar to his, then he could guess that there were people that she was associated with, likely the student council, that could sense him as well. Going with that, then that would mean, as the Student Council, President, Souna was the leader of whatever group of beings that had the dark feel to them.

Thoughtfully chewing his lip for a second, Naruto refocused on Souna. "Do you mean like angels, demons, werewolves, vampires, ghosts? Stuff like that?"

Souna turner her head enough so that she could pin him with a one-eyed stare before she returned to looking out the window.

"In a sense," she said, "though by your word choice I would say you don't know anything."

Slightly affronted by her statement, Naruto narrowed his eyes and took a gamble. "What I do know," he started, "is that until Thursday off last week I was a regular guy and then Friday morning I had this weird energy, that I think is called chakra. I also know that you and the rest of the Student Council are not entirely human if you are at all. You all have some weird energy in yourselves as well, and judging by that fact that the Student Council seems almost like a hierarchy, you seem to be the leader of whatever you are. If I were to use chess as an analogy, I'd call you the king, Tsubaki the queen and the rest your underlings."

Silence reigned in the room for several long moments, before Souna turned and gave Naruto a sly smile. "An adept comparison, as expected of you Uzumaki-kun."

Naruto swallowed thickly, suddenly very aware that he was in the same room as Souna, the girl he had practically molested in the hallway the last time he saw her, and the smell of water lilies and mint were choking his senses again. God her smile was beautiful, and the way that the light from the setting sun illuminated her face and set off her eyes… they were like burning amethysts…

With an enormous force of will, Naruto turned his eyes away missing the way Souna frowned lightly.

"You are correct in the assumption that the Student Council is not human, though many were at one point." At that Naruto turned back to her, his curiosity overrideing his lubido. At his raised eyebrow, Souna continued. "Yes, I said at one point. Currently they are devils." At her proclamation, two wings identical to Tsukiko's sprung out of her back.

Naruto examined them for a second, before looking Souna in they eyes. "I'm going to let you explain before I assume anything… unless you plan on taking my soul or something."

Souna giggled, a single, delicate hand being raised to cover her mouth. It was such a far cry from her usual stoic and stern disposition. It was cute. At the thought, something in his chest expanded again, burning red hot and making him feel like his collar was too tight. With some struggle, Naruto forced it down, taking quick, shallow breaths through his nose to try and keep himself from jumping Souna.

"Out of everyone I told that too, you are the only one who took it so calmly." Souna soon master herself again, though a small smile could be seen on her face still, and for some unknown reason, Naruto felt himself relax.

"So…" he started, "were you human?"

Sounas wings disappeared, and she seated herself at her desk. "No. I was born a devil." Her eyes scanned Naruto's face for a reaction before continuing. "To be blunt, Uzumaki-kun, there's a war going on, one that's been going on for the past several millennia." She paused, getting a slow nod from a stunned Naruto. "There are three factions. The Angles of the Biblical God, the Fallen Angels under the Grigori, and the Devils under the Four Great Maou. With me?"

Naruto nodded again.

"A time ago, there was the Great War that lasted over a century. All three factions fought until the war degraded into a three way standoff. In comparison to human warfare, the standoff would be the the First World War. The details are sketchy toward the end of the last major battle, but it eventually ended and the Three Factions were in an uneasy armistice that has lasted to this day."

Naruto blinked, trying and failing to connect everything that Souna had just told him into his mind. It wasn't that complicated, it was actually rather easy to understand; no what he was having trouble with was putting the rather fictional story she was telling him and connecting it to real life. It shouldn't have been as hard as it was, after all he had gained chakra, and Tsukiko got wings just like Souna's.

"S-so, peop-er- beings with wings like yours… are devils?" Souna made to nodded, but words just started flowing from Naruto's mouth. "And what about Angels and Fallen Angels? You said that Angles worked for God right? Does that mean that there are other gods out there? And what about monsters?" Realizing that he was bombarding her with questions, Naruto snapped his mouth shut.

Souna smiled lightly. "In order: Yes, if you see someone with wings like mine they are devils; both angels and fallen angels have wings, the former are white and eagle-like, and the latter are black like a crows. Yes, the Angles are under the direct leadership of the Biblical God," she winced, "and, yes, there are other pantheons out there. As a direct consequence, monsters do exist as well in a different faction that we classify as Youkai, though it is much more complicated than that. Anything else, Uzumaki-kun?"

The way she said it, so casually, as if what she was telling him wasn't totally life changing, made Naruto slump in his chair suddenly aware of the fact that he had a massive headache. He rubbed his temples and sighed. "That's a lot to take in." He sighed again. "Why are you telling me this?"

Souna was quiet for a while, so long in fact that Naruto thought she had ignored his question. He glanced back up at her, intent on asking the question again, but seeing the look on Souna's face, he decided he'd wait a little longer.

"I'm telling you," she started, "because recently, I've noticed that you have had a massive jump in power." She paused, gazing at him with piercing amethyst eyes. Naruto didn't react, already coming to the conclusion that people- _supernatural beings_ he corrected himself- could sense him as well. "A rather strange occurrence happened last thursday night, where there was a massive spike of energy somewhere in the city. It happened too quickly for anyone to be on the scene in time to witness it in person, and the energy dissipated well before we got to the scene of the disturbance.

"Coincidentally, Uzumaki-kun, the next day you appeared in school with a massive boost in your energy reserves." She paused, her eyes never leaving Naruto's. "I don't believe in coincidences," she said after a while, "and as one of the two people that have jurisdiction over the city of Kouh, it is my duty to take care of any supernatural disturbance that threaten the peace of the city. Understand?"

Naruto swallowed and nodded, her vague threat not being missed.

Souna nodded herself, before letting a small smile graced her lips again, the action causing Naruto stiffen. The scent had come again. "I believe that I have a good understanding of you, Uzumaki-kun," Souna said, "and because of that I have decided not to take physical action against you, and instead make sure you have the knowledge to survive in this new world."

Naruto swallowed thickly, more from her scent than the news. "Wait, does that mean I'm in danger?"

Souna's face smoothed over again. "Yes, and while most of the devils that you meet are not going to attack you, and any angels or people of the clergy will not do anything other than try recruit you, fallen angels might try to kill you."

"What!?" Naruto leaned forward, his hands grasping the edge of her desk tightly. "What do you mean most devils? And didn't you say that you were one of the two peo-devils that were protecting the city? Who's the other one, and why the hell would the angels want to recruit me, or the fallen want to kill me?"

Souna sighed, her eyes closing momentarily, before she pinned him with a hard look. "Please calm down, Uzumaki-kun. You yourself said that it's a lot to take in, and what I told you is just a general overview of everything. I've only told you so much because I know that you can handle it, but you still need time to adjust to the knowledge." Naruto met her hard stare with his own, idly noticing how fast both their moods were swinging. Taking a deep breath, he let the scent of waterlilies and mint wash over him for a second, calming him, before sitting back in his chair; if he hadn't he'd probably have jumped Souna again.

"Go ahead," he said rubbing his eyes suddenly very tired.

"One of the reason's I called you here was because I wanted you to work with me."

Naruto lifted his head slightly. "Like on the Student Council?"

Souna shook her head. "No those spots are only for my peerage, and before you ask," she said seeing Naruto's mouth open, "a peerage is a system used by the devils to reincarnate beings into servants under a devil."

The blond frowned. "It sounds similar to slavery," he stated.

She sighed sadly. "In many cases, that is a fact. Devils are inherently greedy and selfish beings, and many High Class devils use there peerages in a similar, if not outright same, way. But that is not the case with several families of the 72 Pillars, the Gremory Clan especially."

Naruto blinked. High Class devils? 72 Pillars? Gremory? Like that Rias girl? Souna must have seen his confusion, because she just waved a hand dismissively.

"Another time, Uzumaki-kun," she said. "But what I'm trying to say is that I want to make a contract with you." Naruto cocked his head to the side, a question mark practically visible above his head. "Basically, I would make you an unofficial member of my peerage, letting you take the place of a spare piece. In doing so, you would be under my protection, and as the heir to the Sitri Clan, and the ceasefire that we are in, you'd be practically untouchable."

Naruto nodded slowly, understanding her logic and ignoring the fact that she apparently had a different name, but still confused as to why she would go so far to keep him safe. Surely having people under her would be helpful and all, but there must have been a limit to the amount of people she had. And what about Tsukiko? Would she be protected as well? Not to mention that he had to tell her about all this. And what about all this clan, and peerage like slavery, nonsense? And who's to say that he'd even be attacked at all? The city was under Souna's and, judging by the information he had, Rias' protection. He should be safe.

But then again, he had been at the center of whatever had happened last Thursday night, and Tsukiko _had_ been attacked. Who was to say it wouldn't happen again. And what about the consequences of actually agreeing? Would he have to listen to her every word, and do as she commands? The thought of serving someone, losing his freewill, made Naruto feel sick.

"I-I need to think about this…" he said. He glanced at Souna who nodded, her distinct smell slamming into his senses again.

"I understand," she said. "Will a day be enough time."

 _No_.

"Yes," he said, breaking eye contact and getting to his feet. The room swam, black dots flashing around him and his knees felt weak. He raised his hand to his head, as if to stop his migraine from growing. He felt his temple throb, and he groaned.

"Na-Uzumaki-kun are you alright," Souna asked, worry evident in her voice.

Naruto felt the feeling growing in his chest. It was like a mixture between a blossoming flower and a spreading fire. And it was growing quick. He was panting now, quick, shallow breaths that did more harm than good. His body was covered in a thin film of sweat and his muscles felt tense. And her scent was growing stronger, headier, swirling in his head and stopping him from thinking properly.

"Naruto," Souna said, her voice close now, and Naruto only had time to register that fact before she laid a hand upon his arm. He jolted, a thousand volts of what felt like electricity flowing through him, and, from the way Souna's hand tightened on his bicep, he knew she felt it too. His eyes opened and fell on her deep purple ones. They were shining, the light from the nearby candles and setting sun creating an alluring contrast on her features.

His body moved on it own, turning with one hand grabbing her hip the other one moving to the small of her back; both pulling her flush against his chest. She gave a sigh, her breath watching over his face, causing him to lick his lips. Mint.

In some corner of his mind, he knew he should back up, get away. This wasn't him, and he wasn't trying to take advantage of her, but damnit, he body felt so go pressed against his. They way her breasts flush against his chest, and how her hips were pressed against his.

"Naruto," she whispered, and a growl rumbled in his chest. He felt her heart rate increase, rising until it matched his own. He leaned in, more of what was left of his self control crumbling. Their foreheads touched, and he felt her arms wrap around his neck loosely.

He leaned in closer still, letting their noses touch. He felt her sigh again, and her warm breath washed over him again weathering away at the very last of his self-control. Her face was flushed, a beautiful rosy red on her cheeks, connecting over the bridge of her nose. She looked so different from the stern Student Council President that Naruto had to chuckle.

"Senpai," he breathed, a small smile on his lips. Souna gave a small whimper, tightening her hold around his neck, her hips pressing more firmly into his. A plea. He have her hip a squeeze, relishing in the feel of her body so close to his. He could already remember the feel of her lips that had ghosted over his in the hallway…

The thought was like bucket of water being poured over him. he pulled back, quickly unwinding her arms from around him, and stumbled away from Souna nearly tripping over several chairs.

Souna stood where she was, a dazed and confused look on her flushed face, her arms held limply at her side. "Wha…"

"Sorry," he gasped, tearing his eyes from her. His thoughts were a mess and if he didn't leave now, he might just actually jump on her like a dog in heat. "Tomorrow. Air. Now." He was barely able to formulate the words, and could already smell her scent in his nose again. "Sorry."

And with that, he fled.

* * *

Naruto ran until he couldn't run anymore, his only purpose was to get away from Sonua before he did something that he knew he could never apologize for. He collapsed on a bench, his chest heaving and sweat plastering his school uniform to his body uncomfortably but he ignored the feeling in favor of trying to calm down his heart rate.

It took several minutes before he was able to take in his surroundings. He was in a rather seedy district on the opposite side of the city from his school. Naruto took several more deep breaths astounded at how far he had come in such a short time. He glanced at his watch, seeing that it had only been about five minutes since he had fled from the Student Council President.

The thought of the petite brunette caused a myriad of emotions to assault him. On one hand he had really, _really_ wanted kiss her, and judging by the way she reacted, she had wanted him too. He had long ago made a conscious acceptance of his affection toward her, but what was worrying him, was what he would do if he actually kissed her. Would he be able to stop himself from jumping? Or even worse, what if she actually wanted to go further? He didn't even have protection!

On the other hand he was kind of wary of Souna herself. He considered one of the few people he could actually say was someone he cared about. Not to the extent that he cared about for Tsukiko, but with the amount of time he spent with her (under suspicion of having pulled a prank) he had built a close-ish relationship with her. The fact that she hadn't trusted him enough to tell him something as big as her being a devil, let an odd taste in his mouth. But then again, it didn't change his perception of her unless she decided that him know her secret was something that changed their relationship.

On the flip side, he was ecstatic that she had reciprocated his advanced (no matter how unintentional it had been); while at the same time afraid of how he was going to face her tomorrow.

He had run out on her.

A large feeling of forbidding blossomed in his chest, and Naruto knew there was no way he was getting out of that one. Feeling the need to listen to some music he reached to his side and groped for his bag blindly, glancing when he felt nothing but air and the cool wood of the bench under his hand. He groaned. He left his bag somewhere at the academy; the bag that held his headphones.

Giving another groan, Naruto glanced around again, noticing another guy approaching him. Naruto's blue eyes meet his red ones, and he suddenly felt the need to get away from the area. Quickly breaking eye contact, missing the manic grin that spread over the guys face, and turned to leave just as his instincts screamed for him to dive to the side.

Naruto had never be happier that he listened to his instincts because just as he dove out of the way, the guy with the red eyes appeared in front of where he had just been, a lightsaber like sword cutting through the bench he had been sitting on like it was not even there.

Naruto rolled, letting his momentum propellum as far away from the guy as possible, before getting his feet underneath himself and standing up, his converse sliding slightly on the concrete. He glanced at his attacker, finally taking in his appearance.

He was a little shorter than Naruto, but only by a margin large enough to be noticeable. He had short white hair that hung limply around his face, and had a wide, almost psychopathic-like, smile on his face. He wore white clergy clothes under a long blue coat trimmed in gold.

Swallowing, Naruto stared into his attacker's red eyes for several moments, before breaking the eerie silence between them.

"Is that how you greet everybody?" he asked, noting that the man's tongue poked out from between his lips before licking them. Naruto felt his chakra thrum inside his body, the sight of a pale man with tarnished-golden eyes flashing before his eyes. His body tensed, the adrenalin in his body finally kicking in.

"No," the man said, and Naruto got the feeling that the man wasn't all the way there just by his voice. "I usually greet them by shooting first, but since you're the first shitty devil that I've come across in this town, I decided to have some fun."

Naruto tried to subtly shift his stance and the face the guy sidelong, opening his feet a little so that his feet were shoulder width apart, but, by the way the guy's grin grew, he knew he hadn't been successful. Still, Naruto frowned as his mind worked furiously, before he latched onto something the guy said.

"I'm not a devil," Naruto said, hoping that the guy would take the bait and talk. He needed time to think of something.

"Really," Red-Eyes said, genuine surprise in his voice. He raised a hand to his chin and stroked it. "You reek of shit. There's now way you can't be a piece of shit devil." Naruto's jaw clenched, knowing that the guy was insulting Souna. If Red-Eyes saw his anger, he didn't say anything about it, instead letting his eyes rove over Naruto, before he took his hand off his chin and snapped his fingers in realization. "You're a student at that shitty academy. Aren't you, bastard of a shit pile."

Naruto felt his body tense in anger, but he kept himself in check. That guy had moved extremely fast, had to have, to get to the bench from where he had been not a second before. "Yes," he groused out.

"Fucking shit!" Red-Eyes shouted, before dropping into a crouch and gasping his head in both his hand, the lightsaber deactivating. "I can't kill you then. But wait!" he said shooting to his feet again, his eyes filled with sickening glee. "You know what a devil is!"

Immediately, Naruto's back was prickling in anticipation. If he didn't say something quick, he probably be shish-kabobed. "I only said I wasn't a devil. I have no idea what a devil is."

The man across from him shook his head, his grin growing into a full blown smile. "You still reek of devil," he said. "You'd have to get real close, to smell so much like shit. Did you fuck that steaming pile of shit? Did you bury your dick into that warm shitpile?" Red-Eyes, liked his lips again, raising his sword.

Naruto tensed some more. "No."

"Well, fuck. I guess I can't kill you then," the man said, but he slid into a crouch, his sword moving slightly. "That's okay, though. I'll just purify you of your filthy, shity sins." He didn't even give Naruto a chance to reply, exploding forward.

Naruto didn't know if it was the adrenaline, or his new powers or something else, but even though he knew that Red-Eyes was moving really fast, he was able to follow him with his eyes. He watched as the man approached, his arm pulling back and telegraphing his slash. Judging by the height his arm was at, he was aiming to take of a good portion of Naruto's head.

So much for not killing him.

Blue eyes narrowing, Naruto focused on the man's arm calculating the time of his swing by distance and length of both arm and blade. In his mind's eye he saw his plan. He'd duck under Red-Eyes' slash, before stepping diagonally away with his left foot, and doing a full rotation on his foot to gain momentum, before lashing out right fist and smashing the back of his knuckles into the the man's head.

Fists clenching at his side, Naruto waited patiently eyeing the man closing in upon him when his body suddenly froze.

This man was trying to kill him! This wasn't some alteration born from anger and flared tempers, where inhibitions was lost and instincts reigned. This man had deliberately attacked him, the only provocation being that he could smell Souna on him. This was crazy! This guy was crazy! What the hell was Naruto going to do!? He'd only been training for two days to fight, and only because he had been trying to find out answers about chakra not because he actually thought he'd get into a fight.

No scratch that, Naruto had been in fights before, knew how to protect himself from high schoolers that played at being yakuza and gang members. He knew how to throw a kick and a fist. But how the hell was he suppose fight a guy who was super fast with a fucking LIGHTSABER if all things!?

Not to mention he had said he usually shot first. Didn't that mean that he had a gun too!?

Naruto's thoughts were cut short when his chakra thrummed, his body moving on it's own. Jerking his head back enough that the sword only cut a gash of skin above his left eye, Naruto's body continued falling backward. He threw his hands out onto the concrete, and thrusting off the ground with his feet, left knee first. chakra coursing though his legs

His knee connected, sinking deep into Red-Eyes' stomach, and Naruto heard a satisfying ' _oof'_ as the air was forcibly driven from his lungs. Surprisingly enough, the man's body was lifted into the air, but before he could move more than three feet in the air, Naruto's other foot connected under his chin, and threw him several yards away where he crashed into a brick wall.

Naruto's found himself on his feet in his stance, facing Red-Eyes as he groaned and started getting to his feet unsteadily. As he watched, Naruto remembered Souna's words from earlier. " _Yes, and while most of the devils that you meet are not going to attack you, and any angels or people of the clergy will not do anything other than try recruit you, fallen angels might try to kill you."_

So this guy was probably affiliated with the Fallen Angels despite the fact that he was wearing the clothes of a father. Naruto narrowed his eyes, ignoring the blood that flowed around or over his left eye, as Red-Eyes finally managed to get to his feet though the hilt of his sword lay on the ground, and he was swaying on his feet. Making a quick decision, the blond ran forward, chakra humming through his body.

He felt ashamed that he had frozen, the feeling of fear having totally washed away his will to live. At that point in time, he had been nothing better than a coward, even worse than when he was going to jump off the school's roof. He wasn't going to die.

Finally reaching, Red-Eyes, Naruto threw a punch that he was able to dodge, though he didn't see the follow up elbow until it smashed against his nose. Red-Eyes' head shot back, rebounding off the brick wall. Naruto didn't relent, reaching around the guy and grasped the cloth of his jacket. With chakra coursing through his arms, Naruto lifted and flipped him, before slamming him onto his back and landing three quick jabs jabs to the man stomach.

Tsukiko's face, pale with blood dribbling from her mouth, flashed into his mind. He growled, slamming an elbow into Red-Eyes' ribs and felt some give away. He wouldn't die.

The memory of Souna's body pressed against him, her gasping breath resounded in his head. Her small, soft smile gracing her face, and the way the setting sun had illuminated her features in an ethereal way.

No, he refused to die.

Naruto grasped his attackers head, raising it before quickly slamming it onto the ground below it. He saw the Red-Eyes' red eyes widen and roll into the back of his head, and suddenly he realized what he had just done. The dash that he had initially used to get close to the white haired guy at his feet had happened in less than a second, though it had felt like it had taken several. Not only that, but he and Red-Eyes were in the center of a rather large creature, and there was a blood splatter righter where he had slammed his head, both on the wall and on the ground.

In fact the blood splatter on the ground was growing.

Shakily standing, Naruto staggering backwards realizing that his hands were covered with blood, both figuratively and literally.

He staggered further, hearing a voice yell at him, but as he turned to see the person, his world suddenly turned and faded into darkness.

* * *

AN:So what did you think? Leave a comment, and I'll be sure to release a ne chapter really soon, or at least sooner than this one came out. Also don't forget to tell me if you guys want to know the harem or not.

Last but not least, and I know I say this a lot, but I plan on posting some new stories as well as updating old ones. I know people are still waiting for **Naruto: Unabridged** , **Through the Mist** , and **The Night's Burning Pleasure** , but please bear with me. I have some rather shocking crossovers in store for the future as well as oneshots that I have in the tank as well.

If anyone has any suggestions for short oneshots that they want, feel free to PM me. As much as I like to write my own things, I find great pleasure in using promts from others.

Anyway, I hope you guys liked the chapter and are ready for what I have in store for our blond protagonist. (Hint: It's gonna get kinda dark)

Goodbye, and remember, Sempai always notices you.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Hey guys, I knows it's been a long time, but I'm back with the fourth chapter of **Catalyst of the Supernatural**. I sincerely apologize for how long I've been gone, I honestly didn't have any intention of falling off like that. Still, life is life, and shit happens.

Honestly, It was a bitch writing this chapter, simply because I had the biggest case of writer's block I've ever experienced. That shit was like an evil monkey on my back. Fortunately, or unfortunately (who knows yet) that writer's block was specifically aimed at this story, so I managed to get a bunch new stories ideas started, the first chapters of which I'll be posting the same day I post this guy.

Hopefully, you like the chapter, but if you don't I'd totally understand. I don't have any planes to discontinue this story like I did one of my older stories, so no matter how long it takes, I _will_ upload a chapter, baring death.

Anyway, give her a read.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own _Naruto_ or _Highschool DxD_. I make no money off of this.

* * *

 **(Konoha)**

"NARUTO!"

The boy jolted, snapping up from his slumped position and away from whoever had so rudely woken him up, a yelp springing from his throat. The sudden wake up, the ringing in his ears, and the usual disorientation that came from sleep left the blonde completely discombobulated and it took him several seconds to reorient himself to even realize he was still being yelled at by the same person that woke him up.

The man was average in just about everything: height, weight, hair color (brown), eye color (also brown), even facial structure. In fact the man was so average that Naruto wouldn't have even spared the man a glance had they passed on the street if it wasn't for the large scar that ran over the man's nose to either cheek. A sense of elation filled him. It was Iruka-sensei! He hadn't seen the man sense-

Naruto stopped himself. Iruka? He didn't know anybody named Iruka, much less the man in front of him. Where did the name even come from? Who wa-

The blonds thoughts were once again interrupted when a fist landed on the top of his head rather harshly. "It's Iruka-sensei too you, Naruto!" Said boy reeled back, blinking back tears as he brought his hands up to the top of his head to nurse the swelling bump. The fuck had that man hit him for!? And not to mention the amount of power he put behind it! The dude hit like a baseball bat!

"That won't change anything, Sensei," a voice to his right said. "He is the class dobe for a reason." The comment prompted a loud chorus of jeering.

The voice caused Naruto's head to snap to the right, and what he saw filled him with an odd sense of elation and depression. Sakura was right there, healthy and whole, and Naruto couldn't have been happier to see her, but her words caused a hole to open up in his heart. Did she have to be so mean? Did she have to call him a dobe? He tried so hard, can't she see that? Couldn't they all see that?

The thought caused Naruto to, once again, freeze.

Sakura? That pink-haired girl with emerald eyes was Sakura. He knew that, and he also knew that she would look so much better with short hair. How? He didn't know, but then again he didn't know how he knew the blond girl next to Sakura was Yamanaka Ino. He knew the brown haired, feral looking kid's name was Kiba, and the dog on his head was his partner Akamaru who looked pathetically small, currently. Slowly looking around the room that he recognized as a classroom, Naruto could immediately put a familiar name that he never knew before to a face that he'd never seen before.

In the back corner was Hinata, who blushed and looked away from him, and next to her was Shino who gazed out the window dispassionately behind black sunglasses. Two seats ahead of them was the Emo King himself, Sasuke, who seemed to be in his own world. Naruto even recognized the man at the very front of the room, the dude with white hair, as Mizuki. Throughout his observation, the kids in the room jeered at him, but Naruto was too lost in his own thoughts to realize.

He was in a room full of what appeared to be ten-year-olds, who he was happy to see despite their cruel words, and recognized several people that he had never met before in his life.

Wait.

Ten-year-olds?

Glancing down at himself in fright, Naruto nearly fainted when he saw how small his hands were, and realized that his feet barely touched the ground. And he was sitting!

Breathing deeply, Naruto tried to calm his erratically beating heart, only for the sound of rushing blood and white noise to drown out even the sound of his breathing. His head felt heavy and light at the same time, and his thoughts became fuzzy. What was going on? Where was he? Who were these people?

They were his friends. He thought they were dead, or trapped, or…

Naruto's mouth was dry, and he suddenly couldn't feel the tips of his fingers. The world swam, and the scarred man in front of him suddenly looked worried, but Naruto couldn't think. He had to get out of here, had to get back to Kuoh and Tsukiko and-

Rational thought fled Naruto's mind, and he was suddenly running and leaping out the open window. He ignored the impact from the two story drop, nearly unfazed, and sprinted through the grassy knoll that was the school's courtyard, past a lonely tree-swing and out the gates. He ran and ran, until he couldn't go any longer and then forced himself to keep going. Left, left, right, middle fork, over the fence and through the yard, onto the roof, through the tree, onto another only to slide down the angled roof of a house and cut through the large expanse of grass. He jumped over streams, and crossed slow moving rivers, ducking around people and carts, even shouldered a kid about his age as he ran past, all to get away. He didn't know where he was going, hell he didn't know what he was running away from, but he didn't care. He just had to get away.

Away from his thoughts and his surroundings. Away from the familiarity that was inside his very _being_.

The sun was setting when Naruto's body finally collapsed and he was forced to think again. His body ached and burned, and his lungs felt like someone put them in a blender, but it gave him something to think about other than his ten-year-old body, the fact that he wasn't in Kuoh anymore, and that he recognized a bunch of people he'd never seen before. He was tired and exhausted and sore, and he wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, so Naruto rolled over onto his back and stared at the orange clouds drifting through the sky gulping as much air as he could.

 _It's not real._

That's right, it wasn't real. I was all just a figment of his imagination or something.

 _Just breath and calm down._

All he had to do was just calm down and think. He wouldn't be able to help himself if he was constantly freaking out. He focused on breathing for several minutes until his chest was rising and falling steadily, and the urge to sleep was nearly overwhelming. But he didn't know where he was, and he didn't know if he was even safe. He probably was, but he was also curious as to where his feet had taken him, so he slowly raised himself up to his feet, his body groaning in protest, before glancing around him and forcing himself to stifle a gasp.

He stood on the top of some plateau, overlooking the village that he was in.

Village had been the only word that Naruto could use to describe the collection buildings and houses that spanned before him. Buildings of all shapes, sizes, and color made from brick and wood and stone stood before him, bathed in the fiery glow of the setting sun, the trees that surrounded the village were alight with such color that Naruto was sure that they had been put on fire.

A vision flashed before his eyes; the village, Konohagakure no Soto, gone, replaced by a giant creator. At the same time, Naruto's body swelled with with power, more than he had ever felt before. The vision was gone as soon as it came, replaced by another, a close up of the scarred man's face.

" _Come on, I'll treat you too ramen"_

Suddenly he was gone and other faces and screens flashed before Naruto's eyes faster and faster, until the words and images nearly became indistinguishable.

Mizuki and a bloody Iruka.

" _The Kyuubi… He's Uzumaki Naruto's!"_

Sasuke.

" _... To kill a certain man without fail."_

A masked man with unique silver hair.

" _Those that break the rules are trash, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash."_

All three of his teammates.

" _Give us a C-rank, Old Man!"_

Then, Naruto's world went black.

ナルト

 **Tuesday, April 24** **th** **, (Morning)**

Naruto was slapped awake, a firm hand colliding with his cheek with enough force to force his head to the side and, more impressively, wake him up. The slap had immediately cleared any cobwebs that might have lingered after he had woken up, but in its stead had left his ears ringing and his head foggy and heavy. Naruto's groaned, already the familiar pain of a headache behind his unfocused eyes. There was a lot of grey and a single humanoid blob in front of him, and the blond had the feeling that he should be in fear of his life.

He was sitting in a hard chair, metal by the feel of it, his hands chained behind him uncomfortably. He was in a stone room, bare of everything except a brown table off to the side and a small yellow fluorescent lightbulb that hung from its wiring from the middle of the ceiling. His hair hung limply around his head, getting in his eyes and tickling his nose. God, he just wanted to sleep.

"Hey," the blob in front of him said in an decidedly feminine voice. Naruto's head bobbed a little and he felt his consciousness slip a little. "Oi! Focus!" A hand patted the side of his face, knocking away the blackness that creeped at the edge of his vision causing the teen to finally to regain a sense is self. His azure eyes focused on the form in front if him, and his brain struggled to comprehend what he saw.

The woman in front of him was tall, probably just a little shorter than him, with black hair and deep purple eyes and a regal-looking face marred by a harsh expression. Funnily enough, her arms and legs, the places on the body that probably needed the least amount of covering, were the most heavily covered places on her body; gloves ran up to the tops of her biceps, a small length of chain hanging from the tops, where the gloves met pauldrons that covered her shoulders. He idly noted that wickedly sharp spikes jutted from the top of her the right shoulder plate. Her legs were covered by black knees length boots, black stockings continuing from underneath to mid thigh. Her chest was covered, barely, by an intricate leather top that wrapped under and over her chest, while her modesty was covered by a thin stop of leather that acted as a thong, three silver straps replacing the leather that should have gone over her left hip.

All in all, it was one of the hottest things Naruto had ever seen I'm his seventeen year old life, and he really hoped that he lived long enough to rub it in Issei's face.

"What is your name?"

The question was so sudden, so direct, and so soon after his abrupt wake up Naruto had to scramble mentally to find an answer, any answer. Suddenly, something popped into his head.

"Isn't it polite to tell someone your name first?" he blurted out. The way her face darkened, almost, _almost_ , made Naruto apologize, but he held firm, and after a minute of staring into her violet eyes, she finally relented.

"Yumma," she groused out and Naruto immediately knew that she had lied. One does not go a year being a prankster without learning how to lie as well as spot liars. He nearly smiled at his transparent she was, she must not have a lot of experience. Maybe he should mess with her?

"Timmy," he replied only to be slapped in the face.

"Your real name," she said harshly as Naruto worked his jaw. In hindsight maybe antagonizing a woman while chained to a chair wasn't the brightest idea. Still, he'd have to roll with it.

 _Damn she hits hard,_ he thought before looking back at her. "Naruto," he said. "Uzumaki Naruto. And you are..."

"How did you beat Freed?" She asked ignoring his question.

Freed? The freaky white-haired red-eyes dude that tried to kill him with a lightsaber? The same dude that Naruto forcefed a slab-and-a-half of concrete? That dude? Was he still alive? And what was this girls name? "Can I call you Stacy?"

She replied by planting her fist into his stomach, setting Naruto to gasping and coughing for a good minute. _The hell is this girls problem?_ He hadn't even done anything to her, and if she was angry at him beating up the Freed-guy she should know that he attacked him first!

"How. Did. You. Beat. Freed?" she asked again her voice low and deadly, and even though Naruto knew that he should probably just comply to save himself some pain, he couldn't bring himself to do that. Instead, he felt angry.

Why should he answer her? What had he done to be chain to a chair besides defend himself? Nothing, and sure as hell didn't appreciate being hit just because she didn't get what she wanted.

"Alright look here you spoiled ass brat," he started heatedly, "I don't know what your fucking problem with me is, but I honestly don't give a shit. If you want to know something, your gonna have give me something in return. If you can't do that, than you can kindly go fuck yourself."

He had gazed directly into her eyes throughout his small rant, and, after her initial shock, she had become amused and slightly respectful and not the enraged he had thought she would be. There was a long silence where Naruto and the unnamed woman stared at each other for a long time before a cockly, slightly condescending smirk pulled at her lips.

"Fine then," the woman said, "I am Raynare. Now how did you defeat the exorcist?" the now named Raynare asked.

Naruto blinked at the woman in slight confusion before it clicked. Freed was the exorcist, and that meant that he was part of the faction under Biblical God, the Angels. Logically that meant that the woman Raynare was an angel, but, ignoring the fact that she didn't give off the gentle and serene vibes, her power didn't feel like what he expected an angle to feel like. He expected it to feel like 'light', airy and holy, and while her power definitely didn't feel the same 'dark' that he associated with devil's, her power felt… 'grey'? Tainted?

A fallen angel then, that being the only choice left. Sadly that didn't help Naruto, as that left him wondering why an exorcist was working with a Fallen Angel. Admittedly the exorcist's behaviour wasn't very… church-y. Maybe he was with the Grigori…

Realising that he still had yet to answer, Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed. "Right, well, to be completely honest, I can't really give you a straight answer. I really just beat his ass."

A single eyebrow raised at his proclamation. "You beat Freed and you don't know how?" Naruto nodded. "Are you human?"

The blond nods again. "Are you a Fallen Angel?"

Raynare stiffened, her face darkening again, her jaw tightening while her eyes narrowed in anger. She nodded, but Naruto could see that it was a tough subject for her. A small silence fell between them, and Naruto was toying with the idea breaking it when a knock a series of knocks resounded throughout the room.

The blond craned his neck to look at the solid block of wood that was the door behind him. Turning back to the brunette who seemed to be conflicted on what to do, which was odd, and cocked an eyebrow as another set of knocked came from the door.

"You wanna get that?" he asked. His question seemed to snap the woman out of her stupor. Shooting a glare at him, Raynare made her way to the door.

"Don't move," she said and Naruto couldn't help but snort.

"Sure," he replied. "I'll just sit here, chaired to the chair and count the bricks or something." He was pretty sure he saw her neck flush, but he couldn't be positive, and, after a resound thud as the door shut, Naruto was alone with his thoughts.

Not for long though.

Less than a minute after Raynare left, the door opened again, much to his curiosity. Naruto turned, a sarcastic comment on the tip if his tongue before he saw who his visitor was.

It was Freed. Heavily bandaged around the top if his head and holding an arm across his chest as he leaned against the door frame was Freed. An angry looking Freed who took a single step into the room and closed the door behind him.

Swallowing thickly Naruto became painfully aware that he was chained to a chair at the mercy of whoever walked through that door. Like, say, an insane looking exorcist that should, for all intents and purposes be dead or hospitalised.

"Hello Freed," he said hoping to buy himself time to get out of his manacles before Freed did anything. "How are you?" Luckily his voice didn't waver or break. That would have been worse than anything Freed could do.

"I'm fine shitty devil-fucker," Freed said, taking a couple steps into the room as he began to circle around Naruto. "How are you?"

Naruto took the time to notice how weird it was to hear the priest (or ex-priest) speak so genially. It was just plain wrong and the chained teen got the feeling that he was in some deep shit. "Oh I've been better," the blond replied, surreptitiously crossing his fingers behind his back as soon as he was sure Freed couldn't see, "I'm chained to a chair, is pretty cold, a half naked chick just walked out on me without finishing, so… " A faux contemplative look came over his face before he gave a shrug. "Other than that, I'm okay. You?" he asked.

Naruto nearly gave a cry of pain when he felt his chakra mold itself in the familiar way to make a Kage Bushin only to suddenly distort as if it had been suddenly pushed to the side. The chakra he had gathered in his body exploded inside of him, causing Naruto to wince even though he wanted to yell out in pain. The manacles around his wrist heated up.

"Those are disruption manacles," Freed said suddenly, ignoring his question and moving toward him. "They stop the use of any types of power by taking a portion of the users power and pushing it back into them just before the technique is released. A devil-fucker like you would probably explode. Ohhhh!" he squealed, suddenly sounding as if he was in the middle if an intimate moment. "I can just see it now… the stinky ass blood of a devil-fucker coating me as I pull your stomach out your ass- ahhh…" the exorcist's gaze became vacant before his red eyes refocused on Naruto.

"So, your day was good, devil-fucker? Let's fucking change that, shall we? Hmm?"

* * *

 **Tuesday, April 24** **th** **, 1:23 PM**

It took a lot for Sona Sitri to become angry. She was a logical person that, while not detached from her emotions, relied on facts to lead her to her decision, no matter how much it hurt her to choose the correct answer. Naturally, the way she carried herself at all times, publicly, privately (mostly), academically, and even strategically was based off logical deduction and reactions. That particular aspect of her personality was easily seen in almost everything she does, whether it was her schooling or her disposition in a public gathering, but it was only an overt active trait of her's whenever she played a game, or, more specifically, a competitive game.

A game like chess.

She was a prodigy at the game, taking the infinite possible ways for a game to go and narrowing down 95 percent of the possible outcomes by the third move. That still, of course, left a great many outcomes possible, but the fact that she could use her knowledge of the outcomes to her advantage made the achievement even more impressive. Not only that but it became a pivotal part of her technique for playing in Rating Games. Not that she had played in one, but after her technique allowed her to break off her engagement with her ex-betrothed she gained confidence in her style of play.

Her style, creating a loose, shifting net that she could alter and maneuver throughout the game while she subtly moved her opponent into her trap without them knowing, had proven time and time again to be a great strategy, and she had abandoned it for a full on bull rush fueled by her anger.

Her opponent, Rias Gremory, was being kept on her toes with Sona's new chaotic play. Rias had a similar style of play to Sona's original strategy, using patience and the flow of the game to her own advantage at every play before formulating a concrete plan when an opportunity presented itself. It was a good strategy, theoretically superior to her own strategy and it had nearly bested her, though still needed too. Given time Rias would become a strategist on par with her, and a worthy opponent in a Rating Game.

Sona huffed, moving one of her pawns forward to harass Rias' lone remaining knight, scowling slightly all the while. It honestly wasn't like her to lose her temper (outside of dealing with her sister, that is), normally a calm and collected person, but she was currently nearing her limit. A boy with blond hair, azure blue eyes, and the most dazzling smile she had ever seen flashed in her mind's eye and Sona couldn't stop herself from scowling harder.

That idiot! What the hell was his problem!? He should have at least explained what had caused him to kiss her in the hallway! In front of everybody! He's lucky she considered him a friend (totally disregarding the fluttering in her stomach whenever he was around) or she would have had him punished. And then there had been the incident yesterday in her office. Sona cut of her thoughts right there furiously scowling at the pawn that Rias has just taken. It wouldn't do well for her to dwell on either incident with the blond second year, especially that second one in her office.

By the Maou, that had nearly been perfect. The sun had been setting, colouring the room in lighting that was just right and they had been alone. The tension had been in the air both remembering the incident in the hallway, which they had tried to ignore due to the dire news that Sona had presented him with, and everything had been going fine until Naruto, that idiot, has stood up and nearly falls on his face. Things had moves so fast, one second she was closing in on him to comfort him, and the next she had her arms wrapped around his neck, her hips pressing against his like a wanton whores.

Then he had called her sempai, and she had pretty much melted.

And suddenly, Naruto was halfway across the room before she could blink, speaking too fast for her own muddled mind to make any sense of before he was out the door, leaving her alone with her own confusion and frustrations. Both of which only feeding on each other over night so that come morning Sona was rather angry. Just what in the name of Beelzebub had that idiot done to her?

"Alright Sona, spill."

The Sitri heiress blinked, suddenly remembered that she was in fact playing a game of chess with her friend/rival. Quickly composing herself, Sona critiqued the pieces on the board before moving her knight back into her own territory. "Its nothing, Rias," she said, already knowing that her deterrent wouldn't really work. She could practically feel the redhead pout, but she studiously ignored it.

"Bullshit," Rias replies, getting Sona to look at the Gremory with an unimpressed look. The redhead should be happy that it was just them in her clubroom right now. Saying something like that in front of her peerage would undoubtedly lower her prestige in their eyes. But then again, maybe not, those affiliated with the overly affectionate family, hers included, usually developed rather cavalier attitudes, or had them naturally.

Naruto would fit right in there.

The thought made her scowl. "Please refrain from such language, Rias," she said turning back to the board to analyse how bad she messed up her chances of winning. Apparently not to badly. "You are the heiress to your clan. It wouldn't do for you to have such a casual way of speaking."

It was a rather moot point for Sona to try and make stick. Despite how laid back Rias could be, when the situation called for it the redhead could hold herself in immense poise and grace. Sona could as well be she preferred to keep a more professional disposition to people she didn't interact with much.

"Shall we have our conversation with Tsukiko-sensei today?" the Sitri heiress asked in a bid to direct the conversation in a direction from anything blond haired or blued-eyed. Judging by the way Rias sobered up, Sona was sure that she was successful.

"There's actually a couple things I wanted to clarify for you before we did," the redhead said her continence suddenly shifting to that of a person of her station, something Sona wasn't too surprised to see.

"Oh?" Sona hummed as she idly moved her took into position to put Rias' king in check, obviously not intending for it to work. The first move was always a feint, but it did set her in position for a rather glorious coup de grâce.

"It seems we were wrong in our initial assumption."

Sona stopped scrutinising the board in front of her to pierce Rias with her violet eyes? "I was… wrong?" the brunette echoed slowly. She had been wrong? The notion itself wasn't inconceivable, it had happened before, a lot actually, but when she had been significantly younger, not to mention that in the several years that she had been honing her deduction skills, she had only improved on the accuracy of her hypothesis.

It was probably a good thing she never put any effort into proving Naruto was the proprietor of the pranks that plagued the school, she was sure that even for her it be hard to pin the crime on him.

Still being wrong was a foreign dealing at best, and incredibly disheartening at worst. Some of her trepidation must have showed on her face as Rias continued without further prompting.

"Maybe 'wrong' was a poor choice of words," the Gremory said. "It would be more accurate to say that we missed an important piece of information when we first looked at Tsukiko-sensei."

How could the have missed something? They had spent the better part of their weekend scouting the woman, analyzing all aspects of the woman, who had spent an absurd amount of time calling forth her wings before retracting them. The green haired teacher was obviously a devil in hiding. She had a good amount of magical power from what Sona could tell and was obviously aware of the other devils in the school judging by how she had interacted with the student council yesterday, and, from what Rias told her, Akeno today.

The first logical explanation would be that she was a underling of either if their families that was sent to keep an eye on them, but after checking the registries of their family territories they couldn't find a single devil family with the name Kohana, much less a Kohana Tsukiko. As devils were only accepted in devil circles, and not in the Grigori and had no shot in Heaven at getting into the Angle faction, there was only one explanation available to them.

Tsukiko-sensei was part of the Old-Satan Faction.

' _Or not apparently,'_ Sona mused to herself. But what had changed? What could they have possibly missed? The original plan had been to amass the entirety of both the Sitri and Gremory heiress' peerages to 1) intimidate Tsukiko, and 2) give an opening for the respective **[King]** s to explain the different factions in devil society to them. After they would hand the woman over to Grayfia-san.

Sona nearly slapped herself when she realized that she had almost forgotten about Ultimate Class-but-really-Maou-class devil that now resided in their territory.

"What did Grayfia-san say we missed?" Sona queried.

Rias smiles slightly at how quickly Sona caught on. Leaning back in her seat, Rias elegantly crossed one leg over the other. "Apparently, Tsukiko-sensei's magical power fluctuates in a way that's incredibly similar to a newborn devils."

Sona raised a single eyebrow. A newborn devil? But the woman was over twenty!

"Exactly," Rias said to Sona's sceptical silence. "But there's one last thing. According to Grayfia, her powers fluctuate from mid-Mid Class Devil to a low-High Class devil. It's not concrete yet, but I might have just found a devil-human hybrid to add to my peerage."

ナルト

It took Sona the remainder of the day to wrap her mind around the high probability that one of her teachers was a hybrid.

The concept itself wasn't rare, there were plenty of people out there that were the product of a supernatural being an a human. The big thing about the revelation was the age that Tsukiko managed to manifest her power. It usually only took children a year or two to get a remedial grasp of their internal power, if they did at all, in a way that could be seen by the parent as proof of being a supernatural child. Unfortunately, a good percentage of the time, children didn't exhibit any supernatural abilities, and so were left with their human parent.

Sona had known of the existence of hybrids, Akeno was one, but the rarity and unique situation left her pondering what to do. If Tsukiko was really just a late bloomer, so to speak, then it wouldn't do for Rias and herself to try and intimidate the woman, especially if Rias wanted to make this woman part of her peerage. But couldn't just go into a meeting with a potential threat from the Old-Satan Faction without a form of protection. They were clan heiresses, High Class Devils to the woman's supposed high-Mid Class, but in the battlefield anything could topple a **[King]**. Sona didn't want to take the chance of being a ruse just to trap two younger siblings of two of the Four Great Maou.

Really with only one avenue of action left, Sona asked Rias to bring Grayfia with her when they were to confront the green haired teacher, something left a bad taste in her mouth.

It was literally bringing the queen out in the opening moves of the match.

It was a shot to her pride, but Sona wasn't going to endanger her peerage and the humans of Kuoh for her pride.

Classes ended far sooner than she would have liked, as she had hoped for more time to analyze the new information she had been told, or brood more over Naruto's sudden weird behaviour. In all honesty it was probably because she was so occupied with those thoughts that time went by so fast. It was half an hour after classes ended that she stood outside the teacher's office the red headed Gremory to her left, and the stupidly powerful **[Queen]** behind them. With a single glance at Ria's, Sona raised her hand and knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in," the musical tone of the teacher called. Taking a deep, silent, breath, Sona slid the door open and stepped through.

The teachers lounge wasn't much of a lounge, more of a workplace with tables ringing the outside of the room for teachers to work in the presence of their colleagues, with a open area in the middle of the room with a round table and slightly more plush chairs.

The green haired teacher had obviously been about to leave, the other teachers having already left as soon as they could after the bell rang courtesy of a subtle application of Sona's magic.

There was a flash of surprise in Tsukiko's lone green eye that changed into fear before she cocked her head to the side slightly, a single elegant eyebrow raised, all traces of fear replaced with curiosity. The flashes had been so fast, the tells so minute even to Sona's analytical mind that she was sure only Grayfia could have caught them like she had. Inwardly, Sona was glad at the lack of hostility in the green-haired beauty's reaction, and how open she seemed to be. Still, Sona couldn't help but feel a little wary of the woman; the possibility that she was was a part of the Old-Satan Faction a very real prospect. For all Sona knowledge, she knew she lacked real world experience.

"Kaicho, Gremory-san," Tsukiko stated, the surprise in her voice genuine, "what brings you two here at this time? Shouldn't you be with your clubs?"

"We were actually hoping to talk to you, Tsukiko-sensei," Sona said, stepping forward. "That is, if you have the time."

Tsukiko didn't even hesitate. "Of course," she said moving away from her desk toward the table in the middle of the room. "Why don't you girls take a seat, while I grab another chair."

"That won't be necessary," Rias said, full princess mode activated. "There is already three chairs."

The teacher frowned lightly. "Indeed there is, but there happens to be more than three of us here. It would be rude if your companion didn't have a place if her own to sit."

Sona nearly groaned aloud at the woman's declaration, knowing just how into her 'Maid' role Grayfia could get. If Tsukiko decided to be stubborn about the maid having a seat at the table she would be here for a long, _long_ , time. Before she or Rias had any time to attempt to clarify the situation, as Tsukiko obviously thought that Grayfia was there as a guest as well, the silver-haired woman herself stepped forward.

"Excuse me," she said bowing slightly, "please allow me to apologise for my manners. I am Grayfia, the head maid of the Gremory Clan. I assure you a seat will not be necessary. As it is, I do believe the discussion to be had will go for a while, I shall bring refreshments." Before anyone had a chance to refute the maid, namely Tsukiko, she was gone, the door shutting gently behind her.

Sona internalized a grimace, and could practically feel Rias' cringe. While subtly worded, both Rias and Sons could tell that they had done _something_ wrong already in their confrontation with their green-haired teacher. It was likely the fact that she had approached the situation too casually; like high school students and not like clan heiresses of their stature. Had it been her mother or Venelana, Sona wouldn't have felt half as bad as she did, but Grayfia had been the one to point it out. She was the pinnacle of composer and grace, and for her to take the blame for their blunder was nothing short of having their shortcoming slapped in their face.

Clearing her throat to full the small silence that ensued, Sona seatted herself, seeing Rias do the same, before gesturing at the still open seat. Tsukiko's eye narrowed, likely not liking how Sona was taking control of the situation, nonetheless she sat. Inwardly pleased, Sona nodded her thanks to her sensei before sharing a glance with her long term friend. A silent conversation was had, and Sona turned back to the woman waiting patiently for them to talk.

Sona pushed her glasses further up her nose. "I won't lie, Tsukiko-sensei," she started, "the questions I am going to ask will be quite intrusive, but I am going to preemptively ask that you answer us truthfully and honestly."

The woman's brow creased, but she nodded. "Will you answer my own questions?" she asked.

Sona nodded, turning to her fellow devil. "Why don't you start?" The Gremory nodded, knowing that Sona would use the opportunity to watch and analyze the woman as she answered, finding tells and inconsistencies in her stories or explanations if necessary.

"You're twenty four, correct, Tsukiko-sensei?"

The woman nodded. "Yes."

"Would you mind telling us a bit about your parents?" Rias prompted, causing Tsukiko to frown slightly.

"That's rather personal, Gremory-san," she said, her voice taking on a slightly frosty undertone. "Please forgive me if I decline."

Rias, instead of being offended, only offered a smile and a slight bow of her head. "Of course. I apologise for being rude." Tsukiko just nodded, and Sons decided to cut in before either of the two could continue.

"Sensei, please allow me to be rather forward." With the attention of everyone in the room on her, Sona took a second to push her glasses further up the bridge of her nose. In just the small interaction between the Rias and the teacher she had gotten a good grasp of the woman's character. Or rather, her initial observation about Tsukiko was reaffirmed. While polite and well mannered, the green-haired lady obviously preferred to keep business and pleasure separate and so preferred blunt and too the point statements. She was obviously curious about what the two heiresses had to say, but she was also wary and still fearful.

The way her hand kept twitching and her eye flinted to the door every so often was a good indicator. She could, of course, be waiting for Grayfia to come back, but Sona highly doubted that.

"We," Sona began into the small silence, "are here to talk to you about a disturbance that happened last Thursday." At her words Tsukiko tensed, her eyes darting around the room like a cornered animal's. "Please relax, Sensei, we don't mean any harm, in fact we want to prevent that."

Luckily for Sona, her words had the desired effect, and her teacher sagged, if only marginally. Still the teacher was glancing between her and Rias critically.

"Why don't we tell you something about us," Rias stated. It was obviously an attempt to calm the woman down, and Sona was almost inclined to frown at how forward it was, but Tsukiko beat her to it, nodding slightly.

Rias beamed happily. "Okay, we'll go first," she said, gesturing at herself and Sons. "I am Rias Gremory, heiress of the Gremory Clan-"

"And I am Sona Sitri," the brunette said, picking up where Rias left off, "heiress of the Sitri Clan. And we are both devils." Both Rias and Sons allowed their winds to burst forth simultaneously at the end of her statement.

The surprised look on Tsukiko's face was quickly replaced by realization before smoothing over quickly. "Kohana Tsukiko," she replied bowing slightly as wings and a _tail_ burst from her back. "And I assume I'm a devil as well. Please take care of me."

* * *

He was sitting under a tree when he came too, which was weird since the last thing he remembered was Freed giving him the work around. Even with his injuries that he got during their fight, the guy had found a way to inflict pain in some rather creative ways. Naruto was almost impressed, but, ya'know, it was happening to him so he was only filled with slight amounts of vindictive pleasure whenever the unholy priest over extended himself and hissed or cried out in pain.

Surprisingly enough, his body wasn't sore, which was more than enough cause for him to be concerned. He should have jumped to his feet, scanning the area like a beaten animal that just tasted freedom. Instead he just sighed, revealing in the feel of grass beneath him and bark against his back. God was he comfortable, he wasn't sure if he'd ever move.

" **You are rather lax, child."**

Naruto did not jump at the sudden interruption to the peace. Wherever he was, cause he sure as hell didn't know where _here_ was, he knew it was not a place for anything but a haven. He could practically feel serenity in the air, and honest the blond just wasn't in the mood to care.

He hummed. "I've gone through some weird stuff recently; stuff that I have no idea how to handle or understand, so I'm going to take the time to relax while I can before I have to go back to being pummeled by a crazy priest. Although… " Naruto cracked one eye open and examined his surroundings, "this does seem to take the cake."

He was on a hill top, leaning against an ancient oak tree. The grass was green and lush around him, looking as if each blade of greenery had been tended to by hand. Oddly enough, that was it. Besides the tree, Naruto and the gently sloping ground that ended rather abruptly several metres from his feet. Everything else was a soft, golden light that illuminated the small patch of grass that existed.

Just like Naruto did earlier the voice hummed which caused the golden light to ripple as if someone had dropped a stone into a still pond.

" **Interesting… "**

Naruto ignored the disembodied voice for now, instead choosing to stand up and stretch before taking a deeper look at his surroundings. The golden… whatever didn't yield any new revelations, but a quick examination if the tree got his attention. Inscribed into the bark of the oak were pictures, characters, of places and events that were too convoluted for any normal person to understand. He could though, and as he circled the tree his hand lightly tracing over the carvings story seemed familiar.

It spoke of a tree god, of a woman who loved her nation and abhorred war. She eat a fruit from the tree, imbuing her with power beyond normal comprehension, bringing peace to the lands with a simple wave if her hand. It showed her descent into madness, coveting the power she had desired only for the sake of peace. Naruto actually gasped when he was the birth of her children and their subsequent betrayal. And when they had sealed her into the moon, how they battled the angered tree god.

The Shinju.

"What is this?" Naruto asked as he gazed at the story slowly spiraling itself up the tree. "Where am I?"

" **This,"** the voice said, this time getting Naruto to whirl around in fright. " **This is a story for another time. As for where you are… hmm. You could say, you stand in the metaphysical manifestation of who you are, who you were, and, eventually, who you will be."**

Naruto blinked. That made absolutely no sense to him, sure the words were easy to understand, but they were said with such ambiguity he couldn't help but know there was more to it than just the words. He hoped that was true, he really didn't want to become a tree for people to carve things into. He could just see it now, Issei carving boobs and penises on him, while Tsukiko watched, giggling all the while.

"Who are you?" he managed, throwing the unnecessary image out of his head. "Wait, are you saying I'm a tree?"

The voice chuckled slightly, and once again the gold light surrounding him shifted. Flushing silver in some places. " **No,"** the voice called, " **the tree is of my making. The oak was one of the first that I brought into being. Strong and resilient, its very being inspiring courage and power into those who glance upon it in times of need. Its branches stretch and reach out to protect those in distress. It protects from rain and snow. Even in death, the oak gives protection and warmth to all."** There was a small silence as Naruto stared into the golden void, unblinking. " **As for who I am, I am-"**

Naruto held up a single hand halting the voice. "Hold on, hold on. That's just too much, Strange disembodied voice," he said, "I'm just going to call you Tolkien."

" **W-what?"** the voice sounded flabbergasted and surprised. Naruto was sure it wasn't used to being caught flat footed.

The blond, for his part, simply made a noise of agreement, nodding to himself. "Yup. There is only one guy I know who could go on that long about trees so passionately. In fact I'm sure there has only been one person in existence that coveted trees the way you do. So by process of elimination, you must be Tolkien." Naruto paused for a second, hand on his chin. "Wait a minute. If you're Tolkien, shouldn't you be dead?"

Before the disembodied voice, _Tolkien_ , could respond, the gold void flashed a red and Naruto's vision quickly dimmed. He astral voice of Tolkien was talking again but Naruto couldn't comprehend. His vision was getting darker and darker, his body getting lighter, until everything turned black and he floated away.

* * *

 **Wednesday, April 25** **th** **, 7:49 AM**

Issei dragged one foot in front of the other, attempting to make the relatively short trek from his house to school. Ever since his girlfriend, Yumma had killed him and he'd been revived as a devil, the walk to school in the morning felt more like a weeklong trek through the desert with no water while carrying something immensely heavy on his back. Each day it got easier and easier, and today he only felt like he was carrying several elephants as opposed to the mountain that he had felt on his first day. Admittedly, he was irritable, having been told that he was a **[Pawn]** two days ago and dealing with Mil-tan yesterday, Issei couldn't help but lament at how weird his life (or was it afterlife?) had gotten.

The brunette grumbled unintelligibly, sending a glare at the sun, but only succeeding in hurting his eyes in the process. Hissing in pain, Issei dropped his bag and pressing the palms of his hand to his eyes in an attempt to stem the pain he was feeling.

' _Man this sucks,'_ Issei lamented. ' _I was never a morning person, but this is too much. I feel like I'm drowning but can still breath. Is it really worth it, becoming a devil?'_ As soon as the thought appeared in his mind, Issei felt his resolve hardened as he firmly clenched his fists. ' _It is! I would endure anything to obtain my dream! I will get my harem! And when I do, I'll see and touch all the oppai I want! And-'_

"Ahh!"

Issei was snapped from his thoughts at the sound of the shout, and finally opened his eyes again, blinking at how bright it was before his mid froze at the site in front of him.

Supple, pearly white flesh that was usually covered was exposed to the world. Cloth the color of freshly fallen snow covered a portion, the most important part, from his sight, but his eyes, enhanced by his new devil-status, noticed the faint outline in the center. His mind, suddenly clear and unaffected by the Light of the sun, instantly kicked into overdrive, analyzing every detail of the sight in front of him. His eyes roved over the mounds and valleys of the exposed flesh in front of him with such intensity that everything surrounding him was drowned out. After analyzing and memorizing every single detail of the sight in front of him, Issei's mind saved and categorized the image in the same space that he reserved for real life ecchi encounters, such as Buchou's boobs.

Barely half a second had passed before Issei snapped back to his senses and his brain switched from 'Super Ecchi' mode back to 'Socially Normal.

"Hey," he called as he hurried over, "Are you okay?"

"T-that hurt," the girl groaned. In spite of himself, Issei couldn't help but grin slightly.

"Here, let me help you get up," he said as he offered her his hand. She took it gratefully, but as he pulled her to her feet, a gust of wind blew around them, taking her veil with it, allowing Issei his first look at the girl's fice. She had long blonde and vivid green eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. She reminded Issei a little of an angel, and, for a second he couldn't figure out why, until he realized that it was her dark teal nun uniform that she was wearing.

"My veil!"

For the second time within a minute, Issei was snapped out of his thoughts by her cry. Blinking quickly to register what she said, Issei jumped into action, chasing after the white piece of cloth fluttering in the wind as it moved further and further away. It didn't take long for him to retrieve the veil and give it back to the nun, who thanked him profusely.

"Ah, it was no problem," Issei said, smiling to hide the small blush that bloomed across his cheeks. For some reason the sister's eyes lit up.

"You speak Italian!," she exclaimed, excitement and hope dancing in her eyes.

For a second, Issei was confused as to what she was talking about. He didn't know Italian, only japanese, and a handful of words in english, most of them curse words. Soon enough, though, he remembered what the Ria-sempai told him the day he woke up to her in his bed the first time… naked… with bouncing oppai…

He quickly cleared his head of such thoughts, chuckling nervously and hopping she wouldn't suspect anything. "I practice a lot," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm Hyoudou Issei, by the way."

The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Asia Argento."

"Nice to meet you Asia," he said, smiling.

She suddenly looked unsure, poking her fingers together in a manner that told him it wasn't uncommon to her. "Ano, do you know where the church is? I got lost and I need some help."

And that was how Issei found himself walking in the opposite direction of Kuoh Academy leading the girl to the only church he knew of. The blond girl, Asia, didn't talk much, and he quickly found himself desperate to initiate a conversation.

"Are you on a trip?" he asked suddenly, noticing the briefcase she had with her.

"Um, no," she replied, and Issei couldn't help but let himself be taken away by her soft voice. "I was appointed to this town's church."

"So you're a nun, then? That explains the look."

Asia nodded with a small smile. "I'm glad I met a nice person like you. It must have been the will of God." Issei managed to cover his small wince of pain behind a slightly forced laugh. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly before suddenly noticing the cross around the nun's neck, suddenly feeling like something was off.

' _Shit!'_ he yelled internally. ' _Didn't Buchou say that we were at war with the Church!? Does that mean this sweet girl would attack me like Yuma-chan because I'm a devil now!?"_ He turned away from Asia perhaps a bit too quickly, as she noticed.

"Is something wrong?" she asked innocently. He floundered for an excuse, but, as luck would have it, a kid started crying nearby. Asia was off before he even had a chance to be relieved at the distraction. The nun approached the boy, setting her briefcase down. "Don't cry," she said, rubbing a hand on his head, "It's just a scrape. You're a boy, afterall." What happened next surprised Issei because Asia moved her hands to hover over the boy's scraped knee and glowing green rings appeared on her middle fingers. The green aura expanded to cover the boy's knee, where it healed right before their eyes.

Issei's left hand pulsed oddly, causing him to wince, but thankfully breaking him out of his revine. ' _T-that sharp pain…'_

"There," Asia proclaimed with a bright smile. "You're wounds are gone! It's all right now." She stiffened slightly, taking a peak over her shoulder to gaze at Issei. "Sorry she said, grinning a little. "Force of habit."

"Thanks Nee-chan," the kid said, a bright smile on his face. He stood up, waving at Asia before turning and racing off. Issei watched as the nun grabbed her luggage and turned to the brunette.

"Shall we go?"

* * *

Asia was sure that Issei-san would be weirded out by her power, and was internally worried that he'd leave her right there in the street. Still, when she asked him about it, he seemed genuinely surprised at it, but accepting nevertheless. She couldn't help but feel extremely hopeful at his response. Maybe she had finally found someone who would become her friend. She could only hope.

Even though Issei-san was pleasant, she couldn't help but feel down the longer they walked. They would reach the church sooner or later, and she'd most likely not see the nice boy again. She bit her lip, hands trembling slightly, the action was hidden only because she was clasping the handle of her briefcase so hard. Soon enough she spotted the church in the distance, set on a hill a considerable distance away from the suburbs the two teens were making their way through.

"That must be the place!" she said, turning to Issei. "I'd like return the favor for taking me here. Would you like to come in for some tea."

"Oh, no I can't," he replied smiling apologetically. "I have to get to school."

"Oh." Asia would be lying if she said she wasn't a little down at Issei's denial but she could understand. She smiled at the boy. Truly God must have had a hand in their meeting. "Issei-san, I'm really glad to have met someone as nice as you so soon after arrived in Japan." The boy scratched the back of his head bashfully. That was a good trait to have, something God would approve of. "Please stop by the church when you have the time. Promise me!"

Something she said must have surprised the boy, because he blinked before smiling. "Yeah, it's a promise." He turned heading away, giving a parting wave. "I'll see you around."

"I do hope so." Asia watch Issei until he turned down a street and disappeared around the corner, her own smile melting off her face. She honestly hoped she'd get to see Issei-san again.

"You're late," a voice called, and Asia couldn't help but squeal in surprise. Behind her stood a black-haired woman wearing a black dress with a light purple jacket. "What took you so long?"

"I-I'm sorry Raynare-sama," she said, bowing slightly in apology. "I got lost, so I had to ask one of the locals to help me."

The woman stared at the blond for several long seconds before she gave an unladylike grunt. "Whatever. C' mon, you have patients to heal." Raynare placed her hand on Asia's shoulder releasing her wings and wrapped them around both of them. There was the sensation of incredibly fast movement, before the curtain of black feathers disappeared from in front of Asia showing the nun that she was now standing in front of the church.

She blinked and glancing around her in surprise, expecting to see the suburb around them but only seeing surprisingly thick trees.

"Hurry up," Raynare barked, already at the door to the church.

"Y-yes, Raynare-sama." she followed the Fallen Angel into the church, sadly noticing that the church had fallen into disrepair. Did the people of Kuoh not know the wonders of God? Despite her melancholic thoughts, she dutifully shadowed her new master as they strode between the pews. They stopped at the dais directly under the colored glass window of Virgin Mary. Asia briefly wondered what they were doing standing at the dais, but Raynare had already reached out and grasped the piece of wood. Despite how heavy it looked, she moved it with what looked like little effort, revealing a staircase that descended into the darkness.

The trip down was far to long for Asia's tastes. She never did like being underground, it made her feel claustrophobic, but she pushed on. She knew that everything that she had been through, being exiled from the church, being forced to work with the Grigori, it was all a test of her faith in God. A test she wouldn't fail. Even if the church had exiled her, her faith in God was still as strong as ever, and she would prove it, by reigniting the flames of faith in those who have strayed from the Path that God had set out for them.

Her thoughts gave her the strength to continue downward until she saw the end of the stairwell. The Fallen Angel and the nun walked out of the stairwell, and Asia had to stifle a gasp at the sight that met them. Exiled exorcists and priests, Fathers of the cloth who had been cast out milled about in black clothes and menacing expressions. As she and Raynare stepped through doorway, several heads turned to them, and Asia felt the desire to curl into a ball. Still, the brunette continued on, barely taking notice of the men around her, and Asia had to stick close to her if she wanted to get out of the rather large room.

Raynare led her to an hallway off to the side, where a woman with deep blue hair and a magenta suit was waiting for them.

"How's he doing?" Raynare asked.

The woman shrugged. "He'll live. For now. I had to pull Freed off him, the guy was really trying to kill him." The woman turned her gaze upon Asia, who desperately tried to seem smaller than she was. "This the Holy Priestess?"

The brunette hummed. "What'd you do with Freed?"

"I let Dohnaseek have him. He's recovering in the infirmary. You want me to take her to him?"

Raynare shook her head. "No. Let him stew for a little. I told him to leave the prisoner alone. Speaking of, has he said anything, Kalawarner?"

It was the other woman's turn to shake her head. "I haven't been to see him." Raynare hummed, gazing at the steel door further down the hall, and Asia couldn't help but feel anxious. This wasn't what she expected when she had been told to come out to Kuoh.

"Let the nun work on the prisoner first, then we'll send Mittelt to try him out later." The other woman, Kalawarner, looked at the brunette surprised.

"You sure," she asked. "She's-"

"I know, and I'm sure. We'll let Freed stew for the night then have Asia-chan here heal him and send them out tomorrow night." The other woman just nodded though she looked like she wanted to say something. "I have to go call the boss."

Without another word she took off, leaving Asia with the other woman. "Come," she said, ushering the ex-nun down the hallway toward the door Raynare had been gazing at. Kalawarner pulled the bolt on the door unlocking the door. "Heal him, and then come out. Nothing else. Got it?"

Asia nodded shakily, and Kalawarner opened the door. She stepped in on unsteady feet, the sound of the door shutting behind her seaming dreadfully final. The room was lit by a single naked lightbulb, showing a single figure with a head of spiky blond hair chained to a chair.

"That you, Stacy?" he asked. His voice was weird, thick and airy at the same time.

Unsure of herself, Asia gave a shaky, "No," in reply.

"Huh?" he turned slightly. "Who's there?" Asia had to stifle a gasp, at the sight of his bruised and bloody face. His lips and cheek were swollen, and blood dripped from several cuts on his face. "Who're you?"

"I-I'm Asia A-Argento…" She answered unconsciously, gazing in horror at the boys face. Had the priests' done this to him? Why? Was he a devil? Even if he was, it didn't excuse whoever did this of their actions.

The teen, unaware of her thoughts, gave her a smile, flashing bloody teen and causing his blue eyes to shine. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto," he said. "If you're not here to beat me, you mind letting me out of this chair?"

* * *

AN: So what did you think? Go ahead and leave a comment, or shoot me a PM. I'm going to make a more conscious effort to respond to the comments people post, individually at the beginning or end of a chapter.

Oh, and as I said before, I am uploading the first chapter to a bunch of new stories that I had floating around in my head for the longest. It'd be great if you guys could give them a try. Thanks to everyone who stuck out the wait and reviewed for the first three chapters. They both mean a lot to me, but I'm seriously glad anyone reads this.

Thanks guys ~ VigilantSempai


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